Edward Elric Love Reunited
by PaperFromAshes
Summary: And Edward and Winry live happily after ever...just kidding! What'll happen when Ed's childhood sweetheart comes back, after 5 whole years? o.o
1. Back When

**A/N: DISCLAIMER- I don't own anything except for my own OC- Yumi Akiyama! (Although I'd love it if Edward was mine 3)**

A single cloud floated in the sky. It seemed so lonely there, all by itself, isolated from all the other clouds that were around the sky. Yet, how could a small, white puff seem so independent and strong…

1st person POV:

The train lurched to a stop. I tried not to think about where we had to be by now. The windows in my compartment were all drawn tightly shut, with no hint of light coming from the outside. I closed my eyes too, not even taking the precautions Sensei had told me to do dozens of times.

"_Whenever you're in a closed space, identify where all the exits are, be familiar with every inch of the area, and know exactly where you are. Most of all is to be aware of everyone around you."_

I never thought that I'd see the day where I would ignore her advice so completely, just for the sake of tricking myself into thinking I wasn't in-

"_Next stop, Resembool Train Station,"_ boomed the train driver, as the train started to move again.

I groaned. There was no denying it now. Hesitantly, I peeked through the window blinds. At least, I wouldn't ignore _all_ of Sensei's warnings. I would know exactly where I was, whether I liked it or not.

Sure enough, as I peered out at the countryside, I saw a small cottage on top of a hill as we were passing by. I didn't even have to look at the sign that was planted next to it to know that it was the Rockbell Automail Shop.

In fact, I knew much more, just from the fact that this little house was here. I knew that the green grass would stretch for a couple of miles before merging into the suburb called Resembool . I knew that along the hill were rows of houses just like that shop. I knew that there was only one road, winding and worn-out, leading from the shop to town. I knew that that was the home two specific people liked to come back to every now and then. Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric.

Just _thinking_ their names brought back nostalgic memories. I remembered my happy childhood only too clear. It was so relaxing back then…

Back when Ed, Al, Winry, and I were the closest of friends…

Back when Ed and Al still had their parents and house…

Back when Ed wasn't a state alchemist…

Back when we weren't involved in any kind of nonsense government problems…

Back when we were only starting to learn about alchemy…

But, things were different now. It had been about 5 years since Edward became part of the government. 5 years…had it really been that long? So long since we parted, each going our own separate way; Edward and Alphonse were going to look for a way to correct their bodies, while Winry assisted them by making their automail- I went off in search of my true birth parents.

Then, 2 years ago, I got a letter saying Ed and Al succeeded in their mission. They were going to go outside Amestris and explore the world- Ed going East and Al going West…or was it the other way around?

I chuckled absentmindedly at my loss of memory. Ed must be 17 now, Al 16. I wondered if they had changed much. Did Ed still hate milk? Did Al still sound like a child? Was Ed any taller? I was tempted to go off the next stop to visit.

But, before I could debate if it was a good idea or not, a large banging sound interrupted my thoughts. It was followed by several noises which sounded oddly like people closing their compartment doors in a hurry. Then, it was dead silent after that.

I sighed. The first time that I decide to overlook Sensei's cautions was the time that there was trouble. Typical.

I stood up nonchalantly, in no hurry. I checked to make sure all of my weapons were on me. It wasn't that I was worried about being weaponless, more like it was cause me a lot of explaining if someone opened my room door and saw a couple of deadly sharp throwing knives on the seat. Luckily, those, and my neatly poisoned bow and arrows were all in place.

_Yes_, I _did_ say poisoned. It was quite handy, to be honest- a mere scratch would get the venom flowing through the body. It wasn't anywhere near fatal, though, just enough to incapacitate whoever was unlucky enough to get hit.

I opened the door quietly, sticking my head out and glancing to the left and right. The aisle right of mine seemed suspiciously quiet, so I slipped completely out of my room.

Hey, I was right. Facing the door was a large, muscular man. He was wearing a huge, black cloak and had a bald head. It seemed he was towering over something…or rather, someone. But, I was almost disappointed. Really, other than his bulging muscles and gigantic build, he was somewhat _normal._

I wasn't really focusing as I raised my bow and briefly took aim for half a second or so. I didn't exactly _need_ to concentrate to hit this man; his back was to me, a wide a clear target. What, no more, oh I don't know, sharp, scary horns growing out of his head? Jeez, the "bad guys" were getting easier and easier to hit by the minute.

Instead, my mind was somewhere else. It was back in Reseembool. I was still unsure of whether to visit or not. After all, who knew when I'd pass by again?

That was when, in my peripheral vision, I saw something to the side of the large man, right when I released the arrow. I blinked, astonished at the thing that had caused my aim wobble. Was that an _automail leg_?

There was a groan, and my head snapped back to the person I hit. Sure enough, he went down, but my arrow had barely grazed him. Wow, to think I almost missed!

However, I didn't spend another moment thinking about my bad aiming. I was staring into two, absolutely brilliant golden eyes. He was backed up against the door, his surprised face a copy of mine. This person was wearing a familiar red cloak, with a black jacket and pants underneath. He had his long, blonde hair tied into a braid, and most of all- he was _taller than me._

"Edward Elric…," I whispered. Saying his name, I remembered another two unwanted memories of my youth…

Back when his love for Winry was unknown…

Back when his love was for _me_.

**A/N: So, this is my first FMA story, so forgive me if it's a little rough. But, PLEASE PLEASE review(so I can improve it). =D**


	2. Just Like the Old Days

…The cloud was just the slightest bit shaky now, as if it was wavering in its resolve to stay alone and free, resisting the indulging feeling to join the others, miles away in the sky…

1st person POV:

He was looking as perfect as ever...all grown-up. When we had parted, his face was constantly full of stress marks, or maybe concentrating hard on improving his alchemy. Now, it was shocked and innocent as ever, just like it used to be.

"Yumi? Is that really you?" he murmured.

I couldn't answer, not with those blazing gold eyes staring at me, orbs shining…so beautiful…

Then, the person next to us broke our moment by letting loose a loud groan. -_-

Edward snapped out of it a bit quicker than me, scrambling over to him.

"Uh…Major Armstrong? You okay?"

He shook his limp body. Oh…that was Major Armstrong? Whoops. I guess next time I should pay a _little_ more attention.

He turned to me and asked flatly, "What'd he ever do to you? Why did you shoot him with...," he pointed at the poisoned arrow, lying on the ground.

"Oh…well, I thought it was someone else…" I muttered, blushing. "Whoops."

"How could you not know it was an officer?"

"Hey- all I saw was his bald head and cloak! How was I supposed to know he was a major?"

We glared at each other for a minute. Ah, just like the old days.

I finally broke away and poked Major Armstrong a bit. Huh, guess the poison worked somewhat quickly this time.

"So, what, do you shoot _everyone_ with a poisoned arrow that comes across your path?" he questioned sarcastically.

I started to blush again, "Well, in my defense, it seemed like everyone was hiding in their rooms, and he looked like the only culprit."

Edward rolled his eyes, "Why? Because he has abnormal-sized muscles?"

I shrugged, "It _does_ make you look more menacing."

Edward sighed, "So, anyways, how do we get this toxic stuff out of him?"

"We don't," I said matter-of-factly.

He stared at me for a few seconds, while I nodded knowledgably. Then, the yelling started,

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE NOT GOING TO GET IT OUT OF HIM?"

And, trust me on this subject, when someone yells and me (especially Ed), I tend to react impulsively and scream back.

"EXACTLY THAT! Now why are you yelling at me!"

"BECAUSE YOU POISONED MAJOR ARMSTRONG WITH SOME TOXIC _WASTE_ AND NOW HE'S GONNA DIE-"

"HE'S _NOT_ GOING TO DIE! AND IT'S _NOT_ TOXIC WASTE!"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?"

"CUZ I USED IT BEFORE, BAKA!"

"BUT YOU STILL HIT HIM IN A VITAL SPOT!"

"IT'S NOT FATAL AT ALL! I HIT HIM IN THE _SIDE!"_

"IT PIERCED HIS SKIN, FOR GOD'S SAKE!"

"ONLY BY A TINY BIT!"

"LOOK AT HIM- HE'S BLEEDING HIS GUTS OUT!"

"IT'S ONLY A LITTLE SCRATCH! BESIDES, IS THIS HOW YOU GREET A CLOSE FRIEND? WE HAVEN'T SEEN EACH OTHER IN 5 YEARS! OR DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME?"

"HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT YOU? AND, _FRIENDS?_ CLOSE _FRIENDS_?"

"YEAH! WHAT ELSE?"

"YOU WERE MUCH MORE TO ME THAN THAT!"

I stayed silent for once, calming down immediately.

"What?" I whispered.

"WEREN'T YOU LISTENING? I SAID, WE WERE MUCH MORE THAN JUST _FRIEN-"_

He stopped mid-sentence, realizing what he just said. A flash of pink crossed his face and he amended,

"Err… I mean...um, never mind,"

I stared at him in wonder. He avoided my gaze and turned back to Major Armstrong, all past anger forgotten.

"So…he's not going to die?" he asked, hesitantly.

I didn't say anything for a few seconds and then reluctantly decided to drop the subject. Surely, we would get there sooner or later, when I asked about how _Winry_ was doing.

"No, he should only be out for a few more minutes," I assured him confidently.

"_Should_…" he muttered quietly. I decided to let it pass.

But, almost as a response to my words, Major Armstrong started to stir.

"Edward?" he asked groggily, sitting up. "What happened?"

"My…ah, friend here mistook you for…erm…someone else."

"Your friend?" he looked around, slightly dazed.

"Um, yeah. Sorry about that," I apologized.

He looked at me. Then, his eyes started to fill with sparkles.

"OHHH, EDWARD ELRIC! WHO IS THIS PRETTY LADY THAT YOU NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT? IS SHE YOUR GIRLFRIEND? AHHH, YOUNG LOVE," he exclaimed, while ripping off his shirt to show his enormous muscles.

…um, what?

Edward turned pink again as he punched Major Armstrong in the gut. Huh, he was lucky Ed didn't have his automail arm on, or else that would've _hurt._

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, MAJOR? DON'T GO ASSUMING RIDICULOUS THINGS BY YOURSELF!"

Okay, before the "you're much more than a close friend to me," thing had softened me up, but this began to annoy me.

"WAIT, SO IT'S RIDICULOUS FOR ME TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND?" I screeched.

My face had Edward back-tracking as he quickly said, "Eto…never mind…again…,"

"Humph,"

We glared at each other…again. Then, in the midst of all our glowering, the train pulled to a stop.

"_Resembool Train Station,"_announced the train driver.

I eyed the door. Edward saw my look and grabbed my hand, pulling me outside, Major Armstrong following hastily. I was too busy looking surprisingly at my hand in his for me to comprehend that he was taking me to his house.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I protested, when I finally realized where we were going. I tried to lean backwards and pull him the other way, towards the open train doors. Dang it, he was stronger than me. And the fact that an absolutely ripped Major was following behind us didn't help either.

He looked back and gave me a breath-taking, close-eyed smile, which left me no choice but to let him drag me along the path as I stared back.

"Come on! You haven't visited in so long!"

By now, the Rockbell's Automail Shop was in view now, and seeing it, I no longer had the will to say no. I sighed, walking with him now, although in silence.

When we got to the front door, he looked at me again, all serious. It reminded me of that moment we had on the train, when I first saw him- you know, the one that Major Armstrong interrupted? *glare glare*

"You know, I meant what I said back there. About you being more than a close friend," said Edward softly, as he was turning the doorknob.

I couldn't help but smile.

"Me too. You're way more special than _just_ a friend."

Then, an annoying thought intruded my mind.

"Hey…how's Winry doing?"

He froze in his movements to open the door. He seemed surprised and pained by my question.

"Fine, fine, why?" he managed to say, after some time.

Now I was confused too. That was all he had to say for his girlfriend?

As I looked inside the house, truth began to dawn on me. Winry was there, fixing up some automail, like usual. And, to my luck, so was Al- hey, a perfect time to visit! But that wasn't my biggest concern. Rather that Al and Winry were sitting at the same table…holding hands.

"She and Al got together about half a year ago."

**A/N: Please review! And, if it's really that good- put it on your favorites or alerts or something. =D …(no, seriously, it helps my motivation ^^)**


	3. It's Hard to Say Goodbye

**Author's Note: Just pretend that Edward still knows alchemy. ^^**

…It had to get away. The cloud had to disappear to be able to resist the strong pull coming from everyone else. Turn into a mere wisp of air and escape. Say good-bye…

1st person POV:

It was a very awkward dinner. Pinako-senpai had invited me to join them for the day. There wasn't much I could do to say no. When I tried, they all but refused.

Al wanted to know about my adventures and to share his.

Pinako-senpai wanted to know if I had found anything about my parents.

Winry wanted to update me about Al and her…well; actually, _I_ made her do that…

Ed wanted to know how I've been.

Even Major Armstrong was interested in me.

So, when we first sat down at the dinner table, everyone was staring at me. Feeling self-conscious, I couldn't help but look down at myself. Was there something on my face? Was it my clothes?

I did a quick assessment and found nothing wrong. I was wearing my usual white tee under my typical blue hoodie-vest. I had a matching short, skirt, and my knee-high boots were waiting beside the door. My navy blue bow and arrows were on the floor next to me, and my 7-inch knives were tucked safely in my belt. My dark blue hair was tied in its normal, high ponytail.

But, I was probably being paranoid. I think.

"So, what's been going on, ever since 5 years ago?" I asked. Anything to get out of this uncomfortable silence. Ugh, hated them.

They looked at each other. Some unseen signal went through the air, and I guess Ed was chosen to tell the long story.

I sat quietly through the whole thing…or at least I think I did. Well, on the bright side, I managed not to interrupt them, despite my little surprised gasps and facial expressions.

"Oh," I struggled to find something to say. "Um, wow."

My mouth had formed into a small O.

Before I could congratulate them, and say how brave and awesome they were like any normal best friend would say, Al asked eagerly,

"How about you? Did you find your parents?"

Ah, Al, always the excited one.

And so, I went through my side of the story.

"I went to Central to find my old Sensei. The one who had taught me when I was young. I trained with her for about 3 more years. She taught me how to master my aim with the bow, and introduced me to some new…er...projectiles."

I motioned to my knives.

"It actually comes quite in handy," I grinned, feeling a little proud.

"Anyways, after that, I set off to explore the East. There, I found…someone."

My voice got real quiet from this point on. I never liked this part, although Al's orbs were bursting with anticipation.

"His face was masked, so I couldn't see anything. But, I found out that he was the one who killed my mom. I couldn't figure anything else after that, because he had fled. All I know is that he knows where my dad is, and I'm going to whoop the ass out of him until he gives me an answer!"

Suddenly, Major Armstrong leaped off of his chair, with dramatic tears in his eyes.

"OHHH, SO TOUCHING! THIS MUST BE THE PURE LOVE BETWEEN A DAUGHTER AND HER PARENTS! OH MY, I'M SO-"

I interrupted him by pushing him off the table.

"Major, really, you're going to break the table standing on it like that," I grumbled.

"And, can you please put on your shirt? We're having dinner here," scolded Pinako-senpai.

Major Armstrong went to hide in his little, anime, sad corner.

Edward sighed, "Jeez, you don't even know her name."

With a startled jolt, I realized I never really introduced myself to the Major. _And_ I shot in him the back with a poisoned arrow. Not a good start.

"Ah…gomen, Major. I'm Yumi Akiyama. I've been friends with Ed, Al, and Winry ever since we were toddlers."

Next to me, Edward seemed to complain under his breath. Something that sounded like, "humph, friends."

For some unknown reason, that made my turn a slight shade of pink. I looked away from him so he wouldn't notice. That was when my eyes caught onto Winry and Al, who were sitting next to each other.

"Ah, so, when did you two get together?" Although I tried to hide it, I was sure the others saw the burning desire to know more about this sudden relationship.

Everyone's mood immediately became different. Winry, who was blushing, turned to Edward, who seemed indifferent to this subject, but looked like he couldn't help but become tense. Pinako-senpai's mouth was set into a firm, thin line, while I supposed Major Armstrong himself didn't even know the answer to this question from his confused and interesting expression. Only Al was unaffected by the changed atmosphere.

"Well, after a year or so, Nii-san and Winry got into a big fight. It was about- "

"Eh, Al!" interrupted Winry. "Um, it wasn't a very important subject." She laughed uncomfortably.

Al gave her a searching look, then shrugged and continued, "Anyways, they both got real angry at each other and didn't speak for weeks. I took Winry's side, and after that, well, I started to look at Winry in a different way and…"

Winry smiled a little, and said, "You know, Yumi, Al isn't a child anymore." Then, she punched Ed playfully on the arm, obviously trying to lighten the mood, and joked, "Unlike a certain baka over here."

Ed just grumbled, but it didn't look like he was any bothered by the fact that Winry liked Al better than him. Huh- they appeared a lot less affected by this than I had expected. How odd.

After that, silence took place, and we all ate Pinako-senpai's fried tempura quietly. I tried to relish every bite, enjoying the taste; it had been some time since I had had a homemade dinner like this. A guilty part of me wondered how amazing it would be to just give up my trip and stay here, with a nice bed to sleep in and a yummy dinner each day. But, my mind dismissed this thought almost just as soon as I considered it. What about my parents? And, I knew that Ed would never look at me again if I gave up my parents just for me to have leisure time. And, whether I was something more than his friend or not, this bothered me too much for me to contemplate about this anymore.

I looked down at my half-empty plate, and decided to savor it while it lasted. I didn't say anything and didn't try to make conversation, for it seemed to be so much better while it was soundless. Maybe I could keep the others from feeling the urge to talk, too.

And, I almost succeeded, too. I had my last shrimp stuffed in my mouth when Ed asked,

"So, are you leaving soon?"

His tone made me surprised. I had thought, with the way he was acting previously, he wouldn't have wanted me to leave. But, search as hard as I might, there was no implication in his voice that I should stay.

I swallowed, and then replied cautiously, "Yeah, I should get going after this."

Al whined, "But, you only stayed for a couple of hours! I haven't seen you in such a long time! At least hang around here for the night!"

…Well, at least _someone_ made it obvious they wanted me here. From Ed's sulking face, you'd think he wanted me to set off as soon as possible!

Before I could open my mouth to argue, Winry also agreed.

"Yeah! It's best to go out in the morning, after a night of good sleep and rest."

"But, don't Ed and Al need to go on their exploration thing, too?" I protested. As much as she was my best girlfriend, I couldn't stand being here with just Winry and Pinako-senpai. My urge to bolt out after the two brothers would be too great. Ah, the lure of adventure. Always getting me into trouble. T_T

"We're leaving in the morning," said Ed, with some hidden meaning behind his words that I didn't recognize. It didn't sound like "we're" was Al and him.

"If you can stay longer, we'd be happy to postpone our journey a day or two," added Al.

I heaved a sigh. "Fine, fine, I'll stay- just until tomorrow morning. So, do you have an extra couch or something?"

They all seemed surprised I would ask such a thing.

"No, silly! We're not going to make you sleep on a couch!" cried Winry.

"But, there are only 4 beds. Did you add some more in while I was gone?" I asked, confused. This house didn't have that many bedrooms, though. I couldn't see where they could find the space to put another bed.

"Yumiiii," groaned Al, stretching out my name as if I wasn't getting something obvious. "Nii-san or I can sleep on the couch. Or we could share a bed if need be."

Pinako-senpai nodded, "You're the youngest one here! And, you need a proper sleep more than anyone else. When was the last time you've slept in an appropriate bed, with a nice roof over your head?"

I had no idea. Guess they did have a point. But, wow, ever since I came back, everyone was just teaming up on me over and over again…traitors.

"Ugh, alright. So, whose bed am I going to steal for the night? Ed or Al's?"

"Hmm, well mine is bigger..," mused Ed.

"I'm taking Al's," I immediately cut him off in his idea. At least I wouldn't be _that_ big of a burden.

I snatched my stuff off of the floor and headed up to his room, before anyone could voice their objections; I had been in their house enough times to be able to memorize where everything was.

"Good night!" I called, hurrying up the stairs at lightning fast speed…well, as fast as I could possibly manage.

I heard Ed sigh.

"Don't you have to take a shower and brush your teeth and everything?"

Oh, shit. Right. I tiptoed to the bathroom, and tried to do all of my before-sleeping stuff as fast as I could, but I still didn't finish in time before Ed and Al came upstairs- Winry was back making some rushed automail orders.

When I flopped onto the bed, Ed was sitting on it, waiting for me, while Al was playfully jumping around the room.

"Good night," he murmured, with a strange longing in his voice. What was with him? It felt like every word he said conflicted with the way he said it. Was I misunderstanding anything?

"Don't let the beg bugs bite!" added Al.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a child anymore."

This made Ed smile. "To us you are. You're a whole 2 years younger!"

"Not to Al," I grumbled. "Besides, I need to sleep. Now get!"

I teasingly pushed him off of my bed and burrowed into my blankets.

"Don't forget to turn off the lights." My voice was muffled by the blanket.

"I thought you weren't a child," muttered Ed, as Al bounced happily out of the room. Really, it seemed Al was on a high dose of sugar today.

"Too bad, I'm already too comfortable here to move," I giggled, a hint of my childish side coming out.

"Fine, fine. Good night, Yumi."

He closed the door, as I closed my eyes. It wasn't particularly hard to fall asleep. It wasn't unreasonably cold, like the days when I'd camp outside. There were no dim, flickering stars above me, keeping me awake. And, although it was a little too quiet for my liking, the silence wasn't eerie. I was happily falling into a well-deserved, deep sleep with no dreams to bother me, when there was a light knock on the door.

Habit made my eyes snap open and almost jump out of bed, ready for action, before I remembered that Ed and Al were still awake, and they'd probably notice if any bad things were coming. I sat up, tiredly rubbing my eyes, as if I had just woken up on an early summer morning, instead of in the middle of the night and after just a few hours of sleep.

"Um, come in?" I sleepily called.

The door slipped open a few inches and someone slipped in and closed it behind them. For the one second that the light hit the person's face, I knew it was Winry. She was biting her lip nervously.

"Sorry, Yumi, but, can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Mm-hmm, sure," I nodded, trying to keep my annoyance out of my voice. That was such a nice sleep. Like the homely dinner, I wasn't sure when I'd get another sleep again like that when I set out again.

"Erm, it's about the fight Ed and I had." Her voice was so quiet and shy; I almost had to strain my ears to hear her. Geez, what happened to that dangerously-throwing-wrenches-and-screwdrivers-around Winry that I loved?

"Yeah?" I asked, a little more awake now.

"Well, the fight was about – "

**A/N: Cliffhanger! =D Ha-ha, wow my chapters are getting longer and longer as they progress. Anyways, please review and comment. I'm open to all suggestions. ^^**


	4. Much More Than Friends

**A/N: Sorry for the late update…I was on a veryyy long sleepover. ^^ Anyways, I'm back and ready to write! (Hopefully****)**

…Two clouds floated in the sky, miles apart. One seemed to be chasing the other. The question was which one was which…

1st person POV:

I covered my ears before she could finish, and sure enough, Winry stop mid-sentence when she saw what I was doing. Even in the dark, I could see a puzzled air crossed her face.

"What?" she stammered.

I merely shook my head. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. At dinner, you didn't want Al to tell me," I said, despite my yearning for her to finish her sentence. "Oh, and turn on the lights."

She paused a moment to flick on the switch and then took a deep breath and continued, more firmly this time, "Yumi-chan, I think you have…um, a right to know."

Uh-oh, when she called me Yumi-chan, it meant she was dead serious. Not wanting to acquire any bruises from her automail tools, I sat there politely, waiting.

"The fight was about…you," she finished. She then eyed me reactions carefully, which was a wasted effort, because my face was the same as ever, still waiting for her to get serious. Then, I remembered she had called me Yumi-chan, and I started to believe her. I blinked.

"What? You're kidding, right?"

"No, why would I be kidding?" Then, almost as to prove her point, she added at the end, "Yumi-chan."

It took me a few seconds to take in her words, and then another few to realize the problem here.

"But, why would you argue about _me? _I wasn't even there!" I protested.

Winry squirmed in her spot, refusing to say anything. I patted my bed, wanting her to come and sit on it. It felt so on edge when she was standing and I was laid back in my bed.

And then I thought of an answer to my own question. Horror started to cross my mind.

"No way," I whispered. "Did I do something wrong?"

Winry's eyes widened, and I was too overcome by my own awfulness to notice whether it looked like I was right or not.

"Oh, I'm so sorry; it's because of me, isn't it? I even got your letter, too! Aw, I should've come home to celebrate! I can't believe it!" I babbled on and on, unable to control my disgust for myself. How could I? It was unbelievably revolting. I had ignored her letter, and thus making my two best friends (or, like Edward likes to say, _more_ than best friends) break-up. I was a monster. "Winry, I'm so sorry! Oh, I have to apologize to Ed! Is he still-"

"Yumi. Yumi? Yumi! Yumi-chan! Yumi Akiyama, listen to me!" Winry desperately tried to get my awareness. It was only when she had sharply said my whole name that I stopped in my prattle to pay attention to her.

"Yes?"

"It's not your fault! Well, not _entirely_, but," Winry muttered.

My eyes were two, round, O's by now. "So, I _did_ do something!"

Winry shook her head impatiently. "Stop trying to blame yourself!"

"But, you fought over me! About what?" I complained.

She became silent once more.

"Winry Rockbell- if you don't tell me what I did wrong in 5 seconds, I'm going to assume the worse and take the entire blame!" I threatened as scarily as I could manage.

"Uh, Yumi…,"

"5!"

"What? Wait, no-"

"4!"

"Yumi!"

"3!"

"WAIT!"

"2!"

"WE FOUGHT OVER YOU BECAUSE I THOUGHT ED STILL LIKED YOU!" blurted Winry, her words barely comprehendible from the speed she said them.

"1-…wait, what?" I stammered.

She waited for me to understand her words.

"Huh?" I asked, now honestly confused.

She rolled her eyes. "You really don't notice, do you? I got angry at him because it seemed like he was still thinking about you."

"As a friend," I pointed out bluntly.

She shrugged, "Not really. More than that."

I remembered Ed's words. _You were much more to me than that._

Winry continued, "I got annoyed because he had claimed that he loved me, when he actually wasn't over you yet. Of course, he denied it and everything, but we all can tell."

"We?" I echoed. Certainly, I wasn't in this _we_.

"Pinako, Al, and I," stated Winry. "But, we don't really question him about it anymore- he's…touchy about that topic."

I shook my head incoherently. How could this be? Even when we were young, it was nothing more than a first crush. At the time we parted, yes, we had said our tearful goodbyes, but it wasn't the kind of love you'd see on TV shows- you know, the whole nonsense about "true" love.

"Impossible," I stuttered. "No, he doesn't love me!"

Winry smiled sadly. "I knew you'd deny it."

"Because it's not true!"

Her voice was full of compassion and understanding. "Yumi, you know it, too. You know that you love him."

"Like _family_."

She laughed quietly. "You both refuse to admit it. What a funny couple."

Now that the mood wasn't so serious, I pouted, "Liar. We're not a couple. Far from it, actually."

She sighed, "I thought that over time, you'd have gotten over this frustrating stubbornness of yours."

I pouted again.

"Whatever. You'll have to notice it sooner or later, I guess." Winry got up from the bed and started to walk towards the door.

I raised my eyebrow. There was no way I was going to be able to decode whether Ed still liked me, although I doubted it, or not within the few more hours I was going to spend here.

"What do you mean, _sooner or later_?" I asked suspiciously.

She grinned, "You'll find out."

Now it was my turn to sigh.

"Anyways, you should sleep now. Good night." She turned around and quietly shut the door.

"'Night," I muttered. But, after this talk, there was no way I could sleep anymore. It wasn't that I was wavering in my confidence that Ed still didn't like me, but that stupid _'sooner or later_' thing worried me.

Thanks a lot, Winry, I thought sarcastically.

I groaned silently and sat up, feeling restless. A moment later, I flopped back onto the bed again. Aw, what the heck. I closed my eyes and started counting,

_1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, 4 Mississippi, 5 Mississippi…_

After a few minutes, as I was counting in my head, I started to wonder who the idiot was who had invented this useless way of falling asleep.

_367 Mississippi, 368 Mississippi…_

There was a small knock on the door. I had another unwelcome visitor.

I glanced at the clock, which read 1:14 AM. Damn it, aren't "young" and "growing" girls 15-year-old girls like me supposed get a good sleep?

I pulled myself upright this time, getting off the bed and onto my feet. There was no use staying in the bed now that my sleepiness had completely worn off. I creaked open the door to find myself looking into Ed's golden orbs.

"Yes?"

He too, like Winry, seemed to be in an awkward position.

"What is it?" I repeated. This was like Winry all over again.

When he didn't answer, I said, "Look, this better not be about that fight you and Winry had because she already came in here earlier and-"

"Take me with you tomorrow," he interrupted me. Rude much?

"Excuse me?" I asked, not understanding.

His eyes were now blazing. "I want to go with you when you set out tomorrow to look for your parents."

**A/N:** **Did I get any worse during my break? Review, comment, suggest, put it on your alerts/favorites, all that good stuff, please. ^^**


	5. Unfaithfulness

**A/N: Ugh, another long update. Sorry about that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING OR ANYONE from this story, other than my OC, Yumi. **

…_The sky was full of puny, white wisps. They were like long strands of cotton, floated around in the air. There weren't much solid clouds here, just two of them that managed to maintain their shape, while everything else drifted into those tufts of white that surrounded them. And, although they were still miles apart, the little threads of cotton seemed to connect the two clouds…_

1st Person POV (as always XD)

"I should get going now," I announced, standing up.

So focused on eating their own breakfast, the rest of them took a while to react. I wouldn't blame them. Pinako-senpai is damn well at cooking.

Finally, Al looked up from his scrambled eggs and complained, "You eat too fast."

I shrugged. "The deal was I stay for breakfast and I can take off as soon as I want after that."

Al grumbled, "Why don't you wanna stay? Don't you like it here?"

It was times like these when I really wondered if Al was a whole year older than me. It seemed the opposite. It was like he was the little kid, begging to play.

"No, no!" I amended. "I _love_ it here," I said, trying to put some pertness in it. When Al was pushed far enough to break out his puppy-dog eyes, I was sure that I'd probably be convinced to stay here for, oh, another week or so.

"Then, why don't you want to stay?" he asked.

_Carefully, carefully_, I thought, avoiding a direct look into his eyes. _No need to do those eyes, Al._

"Well, I need to find my parents for one thing. And another, the train I'm supposed to catch leaves in 20 minutes." I took a quick glance at the clock, and thought guiltily, _you know, give or take 15 minutes._

Al sighed.

In an attempt to cheer him up, or at least make him understand why I was in such a rush, I added, "It's like the urgency you had before, when you guys were searching for the Philosopher's Stone. I want to get this done and over with so I can come back here and hang out longer."

He studied me for a minute, while I prayed he wouldn't notice any lacked enthusiasm he was expecting. It looked like I passed the test, because he started to smile again.

"You're coming back?"

I walked over to him and gave him a good whack on his head.

"Of course I am, you baka!" I rolled my eyes for emphasis. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I need to get going. Thanks for the meal!"

I slipped on my boots and grabbed my stuff. I actually thought that I was going to be able to slip out the door without any complaints or worried comments from them, but, I guess I was hoping the impossible.

"Hey, you could've at least waited a few minutes for me to finish my breakfast!" called Ed.

I turned around and saw his plate still had some pieces of sausage left on it. And, no duh, his glass of milk was left untouched.

"Fine, fine…," I said. But, before he could get his hopes up, I finished, "You have to drink your milk first! I'm heading out. Good luck catching me before the train comes!"

I opened the door and called a good-bye, and started walking down the grey path that led to the train station.

I didn't get very far before I heard the door behind me open again. I looked back and saw Ed grinning and walking up to me, showing me his drained glass of milk.

"Hah. Now, I can come with you."

"Yeah, right. I was joking about that! You can't actually come!"

"Why not?" he countered.

"'Cuz, you haven't even told Al and everybody else, _and_ you're not prepared."

Ed rolled his eyes. "I'm dressed, and I have my wallet in my pocket, which is stuffed with money. _That's_ my preparation. Alchemy doesn't really require much."

I was miffed. He got me there. "What about Al, Winry, and Pinako-senpai?"

"I told them before I told you," he said simply.

I growled, remembering last night.

_**F.B.**_

"_What? You're kidding right?" I laughed aloud. _

_He just stared at me. "I'm going with you tomorrow, Yumi," he pressed, without laughing. _

_I stared back. We had an involuntary staring contest. He must have not like them, because a while later, he grinned and said, "That's it, Yumi. Now, you should get some rest. G'nite." _

_And he shut the door before I could mouth a comeback. _

_**End F.B**_

"I can't believe you were actually serious about that!" I exclaimed.

"Well, I am."

I groaned.

Suddenly, the door opened behind him again. Jeez, don't tell me, Al wants to come, too?

To my demise, Al indeed popped out. Winry, Pinako-senpai, and Major Armstrong followed. Worst of all, they seemed like they were all dressed for traveling…

"Uh-uh, no way!" I shook my head, trying to push Al back into the house.

"What? Hey, whoa, wait, what are you doing?" Al scrambled out of my reach.

"You are _so_ not coming with us!"

"Wait, _us?_ So that means I'm going, right?" asked Ed, victory evident in his voice.

I whipped around to face him. "No! That's not what I meant! Ugh, you guys are sometimes so annoying."

He just smirked.

"So you _did_ convince her, Ed? Huh, darn," sighed Winry as she handed Al a couple of bucks.

"You _betted_ on me?" I gasped. Those devils. Those annoying, disloyal devils.

"Whoo-hoo!" cheered Al.

"Why, you little…come here!" I started to chase him around the path.

I heard Pinako-senpai chuckle, "She's still a child at heart after all."

"Shouldn't we tell her?" asked Major Armstrong.

"Shh…" whispered Winry.

I was too busy dragging Al back by the neck of his collar to make sense of what they had said. Ah, uber grumpiness.

I dumped him on the ground and sulked in place.

"Aw, don't look so sad, Yumi," said Ed.

"Yeah. We're just coming to the train station to see you off," noted Pinako-senpai.

I stopped my pouted for a second.

"What?"

Al nodded vigorously, obviously trying to get on my good side again. Well, on the bright side, he definitely knew me; and the fact that I liked to hold grudges for a _long_ time. Ahem, Edward-who-stole-my-last-yogurt-in-the-1st-grade. But, that was a whole other story.

"Since Nii-san and Major Armstrong are going with you, might as well."

"Major Armstrong is coming with us?" I inquired. I don't remember agreeing to that!

"Just for the train ride to Central," said the Major.

"Oh…," I thought about it for a moment. "Wait, we're going to Central?" I don't remember agreeing to that either…-_-

"Yeah, why not?" asked Ed.

"I haven't even told you where we were going yet," I replied flatly.

"Huh. Oops. Guess I didn't think of that," admitted Ed.

"Baka," I muttered.

"So, where _are_ we going?"

"I got a lead a while ago. I'm heading north."

"Oh, you should go to Briggs!" suggested Al.

Hmm…Briggs, eh? That cold, icy place that seemed just plain creepy when Al had told the story. Wonderful.

Major Armstrong seemed thoughtful though. "I could tell my sister. She can pull a few strings for you, I suppose."

"Your sister?" I echoed.

"Yeah. That's a good idea. And, Central is along the way, right Yumi?" agreed Ed.

See? They were all teaming up against me. No fair.

"Guess I have no choice," I sighed.

So, in the end, despite all my efforts to go alone, _everybody_ ended up going with me to the train station. Ironic, isn't it?

Along the way, Winry saw a 50% off sale for automail, and we _had_ to stop by. I tapped my foot impatiently as she scrambled around the store, fussing about whether to get a 2-inch screw or a 3-inch screw. At one point, I was stupid enough to ask her what the difference was.

I walked out of the store with quite a large, purple-ish bruise.

Then, Pinako-senpai claimed that she wanted to go grocery shopping. _Now._

"Why?" I exclaimed. "Right now?"

She nodded, bustling to the nearest store. "The store is going to close soon! Besides, you probably already missed that train. 20 minutes passed already. Might as well follow me."

Dang it, I knew that lie would backfire some time. I regretfully glanced at the train station a couple blocks down.

And so, we wandered around the store. When Pinako-senpai was paying for the items, I paced in front of the store. In that time, I passed by the store's sign that said, **OPEN 24/7.**

…Liar.

But, I think Pinako-senpai noticed I had found out, because she came out with a triple-scoop ice cream cone. I softened up a little after that.

Busy licking away at the ice cream, which was _delicious_ by the way, I allowed Al to drag me to various places, showing me all that has changed in the town.

By the time we finally reached the station, 2 hours had passed. Although it had been somewhat fun before, I started to get grumpy again. The next train wouldn't come for another 20 minutes, for _real_ this time. I was slightly worn out from running all over the place with Al. _And_, my ice cream cone was finished!

I moped in silence. When we heard the roar of the train coming, out of nowhere, I was attacked with a hug from Al. Since he was now taller and stronger than me, this hug was actually painful. I wrenched him off me, gasping for breaths.

"Miss you too, Al," I muttered.

The hug with Winry and Pinako-senpai was less hurtful. We exchanged our proper farewells and stepped onto the train.

"Good luck! Come back alive!" called Al, waving. I stuck my head out the window, seeing his figure shrink rapidly in size and then disappear altogether.

_Come back alive_…huh, what an odd thing to say. I mean, Ed and me as a pair wasn't bad right? We cooperated…sorta, right? There was no need to say that kind of good-bye, right? I didn't _think_ so.

Jeez, have some faith you little monster.

Now, if only I could be sure his faith would be rewarded.

**A/N: I didn't like the introduction, T_T. It was hard to describe…anyways, review, review, review! (Come on, you know you want to…right? Right? *poke poke*)…please. =D**


	6. No Such Thing As a Free Lunch

**A/N: Oh wow, this was a long one. 6 pages! O.o Anyways, **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from FMA! (as always)**

…_It was a cloudy day. Dozens of grey puffs clouded the sun, letting only shreds of light through. They all looked somewhat the same, too. You could barely tell the two clouds that were near the gap, letting the light shine through, were those same clouds that were there from the very beginning. Is a storm coming? ..._

1st person POV:

It was all very quiet.

I had my chin on my hand, with my elbow propped against the window. I was watching the blurred shapes pass me, occasionally being able to make out a shop or tree. I remembered this road. I had traveled it with Ed and Al when they were trying to become state alchemists.

Wistful memories would pass along my mind when I saw a place I recognized. Like that huge tree we'd play under. Or that restaurant over there that we stopped by to eat. Maybe that telephone booth where we tried to place a call to the Colonel Roy Mustang, but couldn't because we had spent all our money buying ice cream.

I laughed quietly at that one. It had been my fault.

Major Armstrong was sitting across from me, staring at the wall behind me. I wondered what was so interesting. Probably just his military alertness habits.

Ed was gone; he had claimed he had to go to the bathroom the moment the train started moving at full speed. Nice timing, I had thought. At first, it was sarcastic. It was only now that I realized he was probably holding it until the moment he was sure I wouldn't try and make a dash for it. _Couldn't_ was probably the better word. There was no way I could escape big muscles over here.

"What's your sister like?" I asked, absentmindedly after a moment.

Major seemed surprised by my question. "Oh, she's… a good person."

"Oh."

"I hear she's tough."

"Yeah."

It was silent again. Wow, were we bad at making conversations or what? Major Armstrong wasn't even bothering to do his dramatic-taking-off-the-shirt thing anymore.

A few minutes passed. I sighed and turned my head away from the window.

"What about the Colonel?"

"Colonel?" he repeated, questioningly.

"Colonel Mustang. He was the one who got Ed involved with all the state alchemist mumbo-jumbo stuff."

"You mean the Fuhrer," corrected Major Armstrong.

"Yeah, him," I said bored, not knowing what the big deal was. Fuhrer, Colonel, Major, all I knew was that I was never going to be involved with that big mess.

A little bothered by my obvious indifference, he said stiffly, "_Fuhrer_ Mustang is a grea-"

"And horrible man," came Ed's voice. He was leaning on the doorway of our compartment. Major Armstrong did a double-take. I had to admit, he _was_ like he had appeared out of nowhere…that is, if his footsteps hadn't given him away. Jeez, that auto-mail leg? As much as it came in handy when taking down the baddies, I could hear it from a mile away (okay not really, but you know what I mean).

I think Ed pulled a trigger. Major Armstrong had his shirt off…_again_.

"THE FUHRER IS A WONDERFUL MAN, EDWARD ELRIC. YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HIM LIKE- WHOAAA!"

Ed had pushed the Major off of the seat he was standing on, his eyebrow twitching in apparent annoyance. He then flung him his shirt. Whoo-hoo, way to go, Ed.

"Mustang pisses me off," he grumbled. Even I was smart enough not to argue with him.

Luckily, I felt the train start to slow down, and soon, we were at Central.

Major Armstrong cleared his throat and claimed, "This is my stop now."

"Kay," I said. Why announce it?

"I'm _going_ now."

"Uh-huh."

"_Right_ now. To Central."

"Yup." I was started to get irritated. I felt so oblivious.

"So, bye then," he said slowly.

"Bye," I waved simply.

"I'm off to Central…"

"WE GET IT!" Ed and I both shouted.

Major just sighed. Apparently he thought we weren't even close to "getting" it.

Then, out of nowhere, he started dragging us off the train with him. Although it was probably a little over 200 pounds, not counting the fact that we were struggling like slippery fish, he pulled us with ease.

Once the train had safely left the station, _without_ us, he left go.

"What the heck was that for, Major?" I snarled.

"Come on! You need to pay a visit to the Fuhrer. Especially you, Edward Elric."

Ed seemed like he'd rather drink a cup of milk than do that…'nuf said.

"Why would we _ever _want to do that?"

Major Armstrong studied our stubborn and upset faces. Then, he faced me. I turned cautious.

"What?"

"Riza Hawkeye will be there," he said smoothly.

My jaw cracked open. Whoa whoa whoa, wait. Hawkeye?

"You can meet her," he continued, his voice was sweet as honey.

Seriously? _The_ Hawkeye? She was a legend in far-range weapons!

My eyes widened. I whirled around to look at Ed. I glared at him. So did Major. It was his turn to feel wary now…

"AHHHH! NOOO! STOP-UGH- IT! I DON'T WANT TO GOOO!" yelled Ed as we each took one of his arms and lugged him towards the Central building.

"You're coming and that's the end of it," I growled.

When we were inside, Major Armstrong had to sign in and all that government stuff in order to arrange a meeting, so it was up to me to contain this runaway beast now.

As sudden as a flash, I whipped around and pulled him in a headlock. Hey, my training was coming in handy! Who knew?

"You're not going anywhere," I breathed.

He groaned, "It's all because of Lieutenant Hawkeye, isn't it?"

Ah, he knew me.

"He can't be _that_ bad," I pleaded.

"You haven't met him yet," he grumbled.

I sighed. "Fine then." I let him go.

He turned around, eyes suspicious. "Wait, just like that?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. If you don't want to go, then you don't want to go."

He didn't believe me. "No such thing as a free lunch…,"

I nodded. "So? Why don't you go? I'll stay here and then you can go back to Resembool."

He finally understood. "Blackmail, is it?" he complained. "You're very evil."

I smiled happily. He rolled his eyes, but at least it looked like he was giving in.

Major Armstrong came back and thundered, "Guess what! Lieutenant Hawkeye is at the sniping range, and the Fuhrer is with her. You can go there right now."

I was heaving Ed out the door before he could finish his sentence.

-F.F. to Sniping Range-

"Oh my god!" I squealed. "Look! There she is!"

I watched her carefully as she sniped down each and every one of the targets with flawless accuracy. Beside me, Ed sighed at my obsession.

"Fullmetal?" I heard a voice behind me call.

Ed cursed and turned around. Based on his uniform, it must be King Mustang.

"Hey, Fullmetal, what are you doing here?"

"Following her," muttered Ed, pointing to me.

"Oh, and who's this beauty that you're following?" He turned to me.

"Ah, it's an honor to meet you, King Mustang." I couldn't help but blush. "I'm Yumi Akiyama."

"No need for formalities for a pretty, young girl like you. Call me Roy."

I blushed again. It had been sometime since I had got compliments like these. Ed stared at my faintly pink cheeks inconceivably and then mumbled gruffly, "Just another reason to hate him."

"What's that, Fullmetal?"

"Ah, nothing," he said quickly.

"Anyways, I saw you looking at my Lieutenant before. Would you like to meet her?"

I saw the twinkle in his eye when he said "my".

"Yes!" I said, just a little too excited.

He chuckled and walked us over.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye, it seems you have a fan here."

She was surprised.

I blushed, "Erm, not a fan. Just that I've heard about your amazing accuracy."

"So, in other words, a fan," repeated the Fuhrer- um, Roy.

I blushed harder.

"And, apparently, Fullmetal is stopping by for a friendly visit."

"Ah, Edward, how are you?" They shook hands.

"Fine," he said sharply. What a violent mood that was emerging from him. Lighten up, for god's sake!

"And, who is this?"

"Yumi Akiyama. I'm an archer."

She raised an eyebrow. "Hmm…are you any good?" she mused.

"I manage fairly well," I smiled devilishly.

"Would you like to try?" motioned Lieutenant.

"Here?"

She nodded, "Yes. It's a sniping range, so the targets will be a little far for a regular bow and arrow, but since you're hanging out with Edward, I should probably assume you're better than you look."  
"Smart," I murmured, taking out my bow. "So, ten of them?"

She nodded again. "But, no one really expects you to hit all ten. It's harder than it looks."

I focused on the little, red targets that decorated the field below and in front of me. Indeed, it wouldn't be easy. The targets were pretty small, and some were hidden behind some trees or bushes. I would have to spin the arrow to hit those.

"Is there a timer or something?"

"Yeah. I'll start it when you string your first arrow."

"M-kay. What's your best time?"

Lieutenant chuckled, "43 seconds."

I gave a low whistle. "Wow."

"I think you should just focus on hitting the targets right now. Don't worry about the time."

"I _always_ worry about the time."

With that, I took an arrow from the case behind my back and strung it. Let's start with the easy ones. The targets were a little farther than I was used to, but again, this was a sniping range after all. I pulled the arrow back more, in order to get more power, and released.

_Zip, poof!_ There was a fast current of air and… bulls-eye!

I continued in this fashion.

_Zip, poof! Zip, poof! Zip, poof! Zip, poof!_

I heard Roy gasp behind me. I estimated around 20 seconds have passed.

Now for the harder ones. I brought my elbow more to the right and angled my body, so that when I released, the arrow would curl left.

_Zip, poof! Zip, poof!_

Now, same thing for the right. _Zip, poof!_

The next target was buried deep beyond the shrubs. It was hard even seeing it. I guess pure power would have to provide here.

I took an arrow and ripped off some of the feathers that helped me aim. The less weight the better. Fortunately, although my work was messy, it only cost me a second or two, before I released the arrow again. Without the feathers, my aim was a slightly wobbly, but it still hit the small white dot in the middle of the target.

The last one was the hardest. It was hidden behind and under tree branches. I would have to make the arrow drop down steeper and faster than usual.

Instead of aiming directly towards it, I judged the distance between myself and the target, and aimed my bow up towards the sky. Letting go, I watched as the arrow made a large arch through the air, and while gravity took its toll, it zoomed down once again. I let out a deep breath of relief as I heard the _poof_! of the bulls-eye being struck. Any less altitude and the arrow would have landed deep within that pond in front of the old spruce. It was one of my favorite ones too. Excellent control. ^^

"So, how did I do?"

Roy seemed astonished. Ed was looking at him pretentiously, as if bragging on my behalf. Even the Lieutenant looked impressed, which made me happy beyond compare.

"Amazing," assured Ed.

"Incredible. You finished the course perfectly within 41 seconds," said the Lieutenant, holding up the stopwatch.

41 seconds. I knew that I was probably supposed to be ecstatic with my time, a score that some of the most experienced archers wouldn't be able to match, but I had a competitive nature. I couldn't help but feel disappointed when hearing I didn't beat the Hawkeye's time.

"Aw, don't look so down," laughed Lieutenant at my sullen expression. "I didn't do nearly as well on my first try. I know all versions of the course inside and out. I've tried it many times."

My face didn't change.

"Besides, this is a sniper's course, not an archer's. It's easier with a sniper."

I remained the same.

She sighed, "Fine, fine. I'll take you to the archer's range. Is that what you would like?"

I shook my head stubbornly.

Roy seemed thoughtful. "How about we let you try again, except this time with a sniper. Make everything completely fair."

That made me smile. "Really?"

"It's up to the Lieutenant."

"But, can't you order her to, or something?" I pouted.

"He doesn't need to," she chuckled. "I love a good challenge."

Before I could get the chance to jump up and cheer, Ed interrupted my moment of glory to add, "Not now, Yumi."

I moaned, "You're such a party pooper, Ed. Why not?"

"Don't you have to search for your dad?" he pointed out.

Oh. Damn. He was right. That stopped me in my tracks.

"Huh. Thanks for reminding me. I can't believe I almost forgot."

"No problem," he said smugly.

I turned to the Lieutenant.

"Maybe some other time. I need to find someone first."

She looked confused. "Do you need to find your dad? I'm sure he won't mind if you're late a couple of minutes."

I almost giggled at her response. The thought of having a normal curfew and a dad that was waiting for me was very entertaining. Yet so compelling.

"No, I meant, it's like a journey thing like Ed's 2 years back. Someone random dude in a mask stole him and now I need to find him."

"Oh. I'm so sorry," apologized the Lieutenant. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe you could describe him for us? We'd be glad to help you," offered Roy.

"Don't do it, Yumi," warned Ed. "No such thing as a free lunch, remember?"

Roy rolled his eyes, "Fullmetal, I'm not _that_ cheap…but of course, we wouldn't mind if an archer of your level helped us with one or two jobs."

"It's fine, Ed. If it means that it might help get my dad back," I remarked sternly.

"Don't start complaining later then…"

I racked my mind for a decent picture to describe.

"Well, his mask is red and black. His hair is sort of ruffled, and is either a very dark blue or black. I couldn't get close enough to tell. His eyes are a mahogany color. He always wears a dark red jacket with black pants. And, he's _very_ strategic. That's why it's been so hard to pin him down. He's always a step or two ahead of me."

Lieutenant's eyes were wide. She snapped her fingers at Roy.

"Don't we have…," she trailed off.

Roy nodded, and suddenly the air seemed to be all business. He reached into one of his coat pockets, and took out a photo.

"Is this the man you are talking about?" He handed me the picture. I glanced at it, and all the dreadful memories came back. Those few times I had met him, nothing good had come out of them.

The first time was when I had strayed away from Sensei on one of our lessons. She'd given me a brutal yelling about it.

The second a couple of months after I had finished my training. That was when I found out that he killed my mother from one of his pitying guards.

The third I had almost got him. At the last second, one of his servants came in and rescued them. It was later that I realized the "servant" was his right-hand man. I had heard them whispering at the last moment that they should storm the north.

The fourth…would hopefully be the last.

I nodded weakly. Roy's dark eyes deepened with concern.

"We've encountered him only a few times. Although we suspect him of some casualties, he's very good at covering up his steps. There has not been an inkling of proof within the evidence we found."

"He's very tricky," I agreed.

"The only lead we have is that we believe he is in league with this other man."

I glimpsed at it, expecting the servant's face. But it wasn't. Instead, it was a completely different man. One that I knew all too well.

My father.

**A/N: So, please review and everything- the usual ^^ Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. **


	7. Still Waiting

**Disclaimer: I am NOT Hiromu Arakawa- and thus, I do not own Ed, Al, Winry, Pinako, Mustang, Hawkeye, or Armstrong (whew, that was a long list). **

…_Rain started to pour down. Dark storm clouds rolled in, covering every speck of the sky. It was a cold and lonely day. The air reeked disturbingly of evil…_

1st Person POV:

I yawned, looking up at the morning sky. The sun had barely finished rising above the horizon. Why would we have to leave this early? Really, I wasn't a morning person. Catch me before 8:00, and the rest of your day would become gloomy. Maybe that's why Ed was late.

"What time is it?" I groaned.

"Seven," replied Roy. "Fullmetal better hurry up or we're leaving without him."

"Remind me why we're going again? No, actually, remind me why _I_ have to go again?"

Lieutenant repeated monotonously, probably tired of saying it for who-knows-how-many-times, "We found the people you're looking for- "

"Let's call him Mask," I suggested. People-you're-looking-for was way too long. Besides, I heard they did the same for the Scar case.

"Fine…we found 'Mask's hide-out, but before we could capture him, he blew the whole place up, leaving rubble and itty-bitty pieces of evidence."

I stifled a giggle, while Hawkeye stared confusedly at me. Hearing a military person say "itty-bitty" was funny in so many ways. Or, it was the fact that it was morning-time. That could explain my hysteria too.

"Anyways, luckily, before we stormed in and tried to scour the place out, Lieutenant spotted a booby trap," bragged Roy.

Ha-ha, booby. The Fuhrer just said booby…oh dear, Yumi, this is _not_ a good day for you, is it?

"They were clever, eradicating everything there, and being able to leave just the traps alone. It takes two people to take it down, though. You can't get too close either. You'd have to snipe it down at the same time from a couple different angles."

"Why do you need snipers?"

"I predict it'll probably create a mass explosion, so we'd have to stand far away," informed Lieutenant.

"So, there's no one else who can snipe like you do?" I asked, not believing the military was _this_ incompetent. "I'm sure the military isn't _that_ bad- "

A glare from Roy had me backtracking.

"Erm, I mean, the military is _way_ too good to not have people like that, right?" Okay, although my mind was unfortunately making no sense today, I had enough logic to _not_ get on the bad side of the Fuhrer. Seriously, the dude had a huge army at his command. Not fun.

Still frowning at me, he explained, "This isn't as important though, so more officers are involved with other cases."

I stared at him in disbelief. "But, you're the _Fuhrer!_ Can't you just command some people to come down and investigate and be done with it?"

*Glare glare*

"Um, heh, sir?" I added more politely.

"Well, I agree. There _are_ more important cases than this, Yumi. It's my job to lead country, right. It's not fair to put all the best soldiers on this situation just for your personal needs."

Damn it. I hated when people lectured me like that. Especially when they were right.

*Pout pout*

"So, this person is working with your dad?" asked Roy…again.

"NO!" I almost screamed. "My dad is _not _evil!"

Lieutenant rubbed my shoulder comfortingly. "Yumi, they've been together 24/7. They're in the same hotel room, go the same places, and everything! Don't you think, if your dad was a prisoner, Mask would keep him locked up in a safe place?"

"Maybe he wants to keep a watch on him!" I protested. We've gone through this conversation a billion of times. I refused to believe my dad was bad…hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it…oh my god, Yumi, what has the day done to you. -_-

"Besides," I accused. "You haven't even seen them together _once_!"

Roy scratched his head and nodded in agreement, "That's the weird thing. All the clues lead up to it, but it's seems impossible that they're never together. It's like the other just disappears when his partner comes."

Then, I heard some hard footsteps behind me. "Oh, Ed's here," I assumed automatically.

"Jeez, I'm not _that_ loud," grumbled Ed as he appeared next to me.

I tapped his left leg with my foot, listening to a light _clank_. He grumbled some more.

"Anyways, let's go. I need to get back as soon as possible," said Roy impatiently.

"Ed, why were you late?" I asked later when we were all loaded into the car and driving away. "I thought that you said you were all prepared."

He shrugged, "I forgot something."

I sweatdropped. "Baka," I muttered. I punched his arm playfully.

And then I winced in pain. _Ow_. Wait, why was I in pain? I rubbed my knuckles regretfully as I poked his arm more carefully this time.

"It's metal," I stated blatantly.

"No duh," snorted Ed. He rolled his eyes and pulled up his sleeve.

"Whaaa? I thought you got your arm back!" I yelped, jumping away.

"Really, Yumi, mornings are definitely not your best times."

Tell me about it.

"I _did_. This is just an automail covering. It really does come in handy," he said with exaggerated patience. Any other day I would've been annoyed at that tone, but today, I had a feeling that everyone knew I needed it.

"So you like your automail arm better?" I gasped. Shame!

He sighed and gave me a little shove, "Yumiii, no, it's just that it's better in battle."

"Oh."

He waited.

"_Oh_. I get it now," I smiled, although I was a little disheartened at my slowness. Tonight, get a good night sleep, I instructed myself sternly…

Hah! If only if were that easy.

"We're here," announced Roy, stopping the engine.

Ed got and out and held the door for me. Aw, what a gentleman.

"You'd probably hit your head on the door and get a concussion or something if I didn't do it," he half-explained, half-muttered.

Yeah…I take that back.

Instead, I "hmphed" and walked ahead of him, surveying the mess in front of me.

It looked like an earthquake had erupted in the area. Nothing was standing up right, and there were a dozen clutters of who-knew-what. Most of it was buried behind the fallen wood and debris. It was hard to believe that whoever was here was able to blow this kind of wreckage and still escape.

"So, where are the bombs?" I asked, dubiously. How could anyone spot _anything_ in these ruins, let alone a booby trap that was supposed to be hidden? Guess that's why they call her _Hawk_eye. I wondered how I was going to hit a target that I couldn't see.

"Oh, it's right there," the Lieutenant pointed to a small, round circle, which was strangely still intact. I hadn't noticed it before, for it was too small to have been detected unless it is specifically pointed out to you. But, now that I was aware of it, the little bomb was all too clear. None of the broken remains covered it. Although we were a farther than usual (for safety measure- Ed had laughed at that), it was only too easy.

"Why is the trap the only thing that's clear here? Isn't that somewhat suspicious?" Surely, if my sluggish mind was able to figure that out, they would've too?

Roy nodded, "Very. But, it's the only way we can get down there to inspect."

"What if they wanted us to blow it up? What if there's another trap within the trap?"

Heyyy, look at you, Yumi, thinking ahead. Maybe mornings weren't so bad after all!

…Oh, no, never mind, it was almost past 8 by now.

"We've scouted the area with scopes for a few hours and couldn't find anything. Even if there is a bomb, we'll be too far for it to reach us."

"Not if it's a nuclear bomb," muttered Ed.

We stared at him.

"Hey, you never know," he shrugged.

"Why is he here again?" An anime vein popped onto my forehead.

"Well, the more the better. We can get the searching down quicker this way," explained the Lieutenant. Roy didn't say anything. Ha-ha, maybe the hatred between them was mutual.

"Well, if three's a crowd, I wonder what four is," Roy.

"It gets things done quicker!" scolded Lieutenant.

"That's right, four is way too much. You should just leave, Colonel. This is _our_ problem. Give us some alone time," countered Ed, not hearing a word the Lieutenant said.

"Hey, Ed, stop it. You heard the Lieutenant," I poked him.

"Maybe you just want to make-out with your girlfriend," smirked Roy.

"I'd be saying the same thing to you," sneered Ed. "Or are you too old for that."

"Fullmetal, you should know, at least I'm not a pipsqueak."

I moaned, "Oh jeez."

True to my words, all hell exploded. And trust me, it was _not_ the bomb.

"WHO DID YOU JUST CALL SO SMALL THAT YOU NEED A MICROSCOPE TO SEE?" cried Ed, outraged and chasing Roy around the clearing.

…Huh, hope Roy is fast, or else the country might be without their Fuhrer for a few weeks.

There was silence as we both watched Ed try to strangle Roy.

"Ed…he never said that…," I murmured, knowing it was a lost effort.

"Hm, should we worry?" asked Lieutenant.

"I don't think so. Ed's automail is extra weight."

"King Mustang is in excellent shape too," agreed Lieutenant.

Another pause.

"So, just walk away?" I asked.

"Yup."

"No need to worry?"

"Nah, not really."

"Huh, okay then. Let's go."

I turned my back on them, wishing a good luck to Roy. We headed into the forest and started to walk along a cliff side.

"It's a nice place," I observed.

"Yeah, the trees are a great place to hide while sniping," added Lieutenant.

"Um…I was talking about the-"I admitted, and then stopped as her eyebrows rose.

Well, although I was mentioning the fact that the view was pretty good, if you take away the mess in front of us, and the wind was soft and natural here. But, I guess, she was a sniper at heart.

I glanced up at the sky and saw some clouds floating nicely above us. To the east, where the ruins laid, there were some grey storm clouds, but it would be at least another day before they got here. The sun wasn't particularly bright; nevertheless it still cast some warmth. _Very_ nice weather.

I would have to ask Ed to take me here again, I pondered in my head.

In the background, I heard a large _thump_, followed by a string of violent tongue. I looked back at the clearing where Roy and Ed where still fighting, and saw that some smoke was rising out of the area. Tsk tsk, Roy, imagine, the Fuhrer starting a forest fire.

"Should we be worry-"

"I don't think so. Ed has his alchemy."

"Ah, okay."

_CRASH_. I turned wary now, while the Lieutenant sweatdropped.

"We should probably hurry this up and get back to them."

"Definitely. I think Ed just crashed into a tree."

She winced, though I felt sorry for the tree.

"So, we just shoot at them?" I questioned as I started to string my bow, when we got to a reasonably good area to shoot.

"Yeah, simultaneously."

"No problem. On three?"

"Sure. How fast?"

"Ah, maybe 120 mph?"

"Fine. Then, I'll probably shoot a second or two after you."

"Okay."

See? We got along so much better than the two brats over there…oops, my bad, I meant brat and the Fuhrer. -_-

I walked about 20 feet away, still in sight of the Lieutenant, but also where a perfect view of the side of the bomb I was supposed to hit came along. I saw Lieutenant settle with her sniper on the edge of the cliff.

"Ready!" I called.

"1…2…3!"

I released the arrow at the said 120 mph, and a second later, so did the Lieutenant.

The bullet and the arrow burst into target on both sides. Yes, bull-eye!

I remembered that the Lieutenant said it would blow up, so I turned away and took cover. I was pretty proud of myself- I did it just like they do it in the action movies. You know, where they jump unnecessarily dramatic and into the cover of a rock or something?

Guess what happened. Nothing. My perfect movie jump wasted. Oh, the irony. =_=

A moment passed. Ed and Roy were still wrestling like there was no tomorrow.

"Well, that was anti-climatic," I pointed out simply.

"Very," concurred Lieutenant.

"So, what about the bomb you were all scared of?" I asked airily.

"I don't think we should inform Edward and the Fuhrer yet. They probably aren't in the best of moods at this point," she shook her head disapprovingly.

Oh, okay, or ignore me. That's fine. It's not like I have feelings or anything. -_-

"They might act careless and blow us all up," continued the Lieutenant.

"_Blow us up_?" I echoed warily. "You're kidding, right?"

She gave me an odd look. A you-should-know-military-personnal-are-never-kidding-on-this-kind-of-trip look. Creepy.

We started to descend the cliff. Luckily, it wasn't that far down, but there were plenty of annoying rocks that were getting in our way. Some of them were quite large too. We'd have to take precious time to move the big boulders out of the way before we could continue climbing down.

Use those sumo muscles!, I thought encouragingly, as I watch the Lieutenant lift a stone bigger than her to the right. Damn, Yumi, you need to grow some muscles…

"Oh my," breathed Lieutenant.

I nodded slowly in agreement. The ruins were even worse up close. If that was possible.

"Eww," I shuddered, as some tiny insects crawled past me, over the flattened and lifeless plants that lay at my feet. I instinctively reached for my trusted knives at my belt, fearing that I wouldn't be able to draw them in time if something _did_ happen. This area stretched barely up to half an acre long, much too short for my bow and arrow to suffice.

"Let's split up," I suggested. "We can cover more quickly."

The Lieutenant murmured in concurrence, "The quicker the better."

Although guns were much quicker to the draw than a bow was, I assumed that she felt more comfortable sniping the enemy from a safe house far away.

"Edward and the Fuhrer might notice our absence. They're such fools at times," finished Lieutenant.

T_T…err, never mind then.

"I'll take the left side," she offered, already starting in that direction. As I did the opposite, I noticed that further down from where she was searching, was the rising wreckage of the trees Ed and Roy must be making. Boy, she was _really_ worried about them, wasn't she?

I stumbled around the pieces of wood that were still left. It seemed like this was a bedroom; I saw some stray feathers and ripped fabric strewn along the ground. There were some ripped clothing and a shattered mirror. I stepped nimbly over what looked to use to be a white door.

I kneeled on the ground and brushed around, trying to ignore the many bugs that scurried away from my touch. Maybe there were some clues to whom this bedroom once belonged to. Maybe there were some clues about _him. _

I reached a large rock, wedged tightly in a hole in the ground. I strode under its shade and tried to drag some of the trapped belongings under it out.

"Ugh," I groaned quietly, dropped down onto the soil. I hadn't gotten anything except a handful full of papers.

There must a chock full of info down there, and I have to wait for someone like Major Armstrong to come along and get it for me, I thought longingly.

I leaned against the stone, avoiding the sharp ends of it, and shuffled through the papers. Some of them were confusingly hard to decipher, sometimes just a mash of words and letters or perhaps in another language.

Wish you had taken Latin when they offered it in school, eh, baka Yumi? I scolded myself.

I sighed, deciding the measly stack of random papers would be no help to me right now, stuffed them in my jacket pocket, and stood up, brushing the dirt off of my skirt. That was when a picture fell out.

"Oops," I muttered reaching down to pick it up. It was grimy, so I used the sleeve of my jacket to wipe it off.

I gaped. I knew whose bedroom this was. It was the father of the girl in this picture. It was _my _father. It was a picture of _me_.

I felt a shadow cast over me, too big to be the Lieutenant. I usually would've whipped around and give my visitor a bad-ass kick in the face, but I was too busy gawking at the smiling little girl in the picture. Her hair was loose, out of its usual ponytail, and flowed down her back. She was wearing a red, sunflower dress.

Holy crap, is this really _me_?

I couldn't remember the last time I had allowed myself to look like this, or rather, wear a dress! And yet, I recalled the day perfectly. It was on my 8th birthday. I still had my dad back then. And my mom. It would be at least another year and a half before they suddenly disappeared in the night. Before I woke up and found I was the only one in the house. Before I ran to Pinako-senpai and asked where they were, and the only answer I received was a worried and concerned look. Before I began to wait every single day for them to come home.

I was still waiting, even right now.

No, that day, I had no idea of the mess my life was about to become. At that time, I was only concerned about the fact that my dad was trying to force me into a dress to take a picture of his cute, girly, daughter that I never was.

I was surprised when drops of water began to fall onto the picture.

"It's raining," I murmured. But, it was raining nowhere else but my eyes.

Then, out of nowhere, a familiar and notorious voice behind me, no more than, perhaps 15 feet away, drawled,

"Well, well, well, so we meet again, daddy's little princess…,"

**A/N: o.o, this was longer than the last chapter…anyways, as always review! I meant for this to be a cliffie, but…hmm…I suppose a lot of you might already know who it is. ^^**


	8. Revenge

**A/N: Ahhh, school just started :'( **

**Sorry if I'm a little slow on updates from now on. **

**And since, I had so little of Ed last time; I have a surprise for you! –**

…_No light showed through the stormy clouds. Everything was pitch black, as if the sun had just given up on us. No lights were turned on in the houses below, for the power had been knocked out by the violent rain. The world was holding its breath…_

1st person POV:

A cup of bewilderment. A few gallons of raw anger. Perhaps a pinch of confusion. Sprinkle on some dizziness and fear. Now, dump all the adrenaline you can think of on there. _Voila_- you have about a fourth of what I was feeling when I realized who was standing over me.

It was "Masks'" servant, in all of his 5 foot 10 glory. He had a downright irritating smirk on his face planted on his face. His face was young, although probably a couple years older than me. With jet black, messy, an evil light in his eyes, and scars that screamed "dangerous" no matter how you looked at them, he had mastered the typical "supervillian" look, all down to the maniacal laugh. However, despite the fact that he seemed born to lead oh…let's say an army of robot clones or something, his obvious servant suit and tie provided an astounding contrast.

I wanted to beat it all up.

And yet, I was still frozen with who-knows-what, mouth gaping and eyes opened as far as they could go. My heart pounded so violently, I was sure that the only thing that prevented it from bouncing straight out into the forest and beyond was my shuddering rib cage.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare?" he scoffed. "Stupid girl."

I cast my gaze aside for a moment, as if embarrassed, and tried to look normal as I kept my eyes out for the Lieutenant. The land was full of rocks, and from where I was sitting, I could barely view a couple yards from here. The Lieutenant would be at least a few hundred feet away. Hopefully she spotted my visitor and is setting up a sniping position right now. Hopefully, but I doubt it. The servant wouldn't be that careless. If he noticed my searching, he didn't show it.

Finally, I returned my attention to him, waiting and expectant. My body refused to move, so all I could do was glare at him from my spot, and hoped it looked threatening.

He chuckled, "Is that all you can do? Glower at me? I expected much more from Akiyama-senpai's daughter."

_Akiyama-senpai. _My dad. Why would he call my dad in a formal and polite tone? Unless…

A pit of dread was growing in my heart, slowing it down from its current jumpiness. I was afraid that after a few minutes it would stop it all together.

"Don't call my dad that," I hissed, still staring daggers at him. I was surprised at myself for saying that. Although I meant it, there were plenty of other insults I've been waiting numerous days and nights to throw at him, and this was the one I instinctively picked? I remembered at night, how I would picture this encounter. First would be the trash-talking; I'd spit all the mean things that I had been building up in my mind for 3 years. Then, I visualized myself leaping at him, and pinning him down with all the angry attributes of a mountain lion. We would wrestle on the ground for a while, and finally, I would take a clean swipe with my knife, and that would be the end.

I never expected that, when the time I had been waiting for came at last, I would be planted on the ground, looking up at him, and not being able to move a single bone in my body, while he jeered at me.

Reality sucks, doesn't it?

Edward's POV (*ahem* _surprise_! ^^)

_Pant, pant, gasp, gasp_.

Damn, this automail was way too heavy. I would have to consult Winry about it when we got back home.

"Mustang, where are you? You can't keep hiding," I growled. _That bastard. How dare he call me short_! For god's sake, I grew like 7 inches!

"Oh yes I can, Fullmetal," he taunted. I pounced at the spot where his voice came from, but all I found was a messy pile of leaves and a crumpled newspaper.

I roared in anger, "You were reading the newspaper?"

I heard him chuckle to my right. "You're just too slow, Fullmetal."

It was like a cat and a mouse. No, actually, scratch that, it wasn't- the cat usually was able to win after, let's say, the half an hour we've been at this! It was actually more like…that comedy that I've heard about- Tom and Jerry. Stupid cat could never catch the mouse.

_Friggin Jerry, I'm going to catch you if it's the last thing I do!_

And the game continued.

I heard gunshots in the distance, but at this point, I was too fueled on rash frustration and pure anger to be bothered by the military. In my aggravation, I slammed my hands together in a praying-like manner, and thrust them to the ground.

To my satisfaction, I heard Mustang curse.

_BOOM! _I looked around expectantly. That idiotic mouse couldn't hide from me when I had destroyed all the trees…well, actually, everything within a half-mile radius.

"Come out, Mustang. I'll find you soon enough," I grinned evilly.

"Fullmetal, come here!" he hissed from behind me. "And be quiet."

The tone of his voice was no longer relaxed or joking. He was fully Fuhrer-serious mode now. Despite my longing to claw off his head, I surrendered to the mood and crouched over there. He was kneeling behind a clump of wild grass, which was adequately covering his head. I immediately took the hint and carefully placed myself next to him, peering out from behind a convenient oak tree that was located right there.

The view was focused on the east side of the pit. There was a large, random rock sticking oddly out of the ground, and I saw a tall man standing nearby. He was leaning over the rock, and I noticed a second shadow. There was someone sitting there.

Alarmed, I started to rise without thinking, before Mustang jerked me back down.

"Stay put, we don't know enough to go charging in there yet."

"But it might be Yumi!" I protested.

He shook his head firmly. "Fullmetal, don't you know, whenever there's a hint of someone that you love is in danger, you go rushing off and end up getting everyone in trouble."

I grumbled, "I'm already against you for calling me short, don't give me another thing to be angry about."

This he laughed at. "I already gave you many things to be angry about. Doesn't hurt to add another one to the list."

I shrugged, "It's your head."

He snorted, "I doubt you be able to even touch me. Being the Fuhrer _does_ come with loads of unnecessary guards…" Mustang simpered while I started to frown. "It does come in handy at times, I suppose."

"I have a metal arm and I'm not afraid to use it!" I threatened, waving my heavier left arm around, preparing to bonk him on the head if the situation called for it.

"What are you idiots doing?" a voice from behind hissed.

Startled, I whipped around, and to my displeasure, fell down in surprise while Mustang just stood up calmly and addressed the visitor.

"Don't just sneak up on us like that!" I complained, when I found out it was Lieutenant Hawkeye.

However, she paid little attention to me, and was spending the rest of her energy on pounding Mustang heavily and giving him what sounded like a tedious lecture. I figured that the only reason she was whispering it instead of yelling her lungs out was because of the current circumstances.

That made a thought intrude my mind.

"Hey, where'd Yumi go?"

The Lieutenant stopped amidst her rant to stare. Mustang took one look at her face, which, to sum it up plainly, had "_Oh, shit"_ all over it.

We scrambled back to the ledge and I raked my eyes far and wide for that mysterious stranger we saw earlier. Adrenaline pumped me up, and it took merely a few seconds before I started to leap down the cliff, catching whatever footholds there were to slow my fall. I landed lightly on my feet, being careful to not place as much force on my automail leg. At full speed, I bound across the pit and raced to the big rock that was hiding Yumi, or at least that's what I hoped.

Dread began to set in my heart as I took in the gist of the situation. The pit, although quite long while traveling by foot, was no problem for the speed of a bow and arrow. The sniping range was at least quadruple this! Yumi would not be able to use her most efficient weapon, something that was certainly needed against the skills that man was supposed to possess, to fight. _Or defend herself_, I thought grimly.

Worry ramped up my speed, and at the pace I was going now, I would be there only in a few seconds. Sure enough, as I slowed myself down when I was nearing the foreigner, I found Yumi crouched against the rock, staring at him with such a piercing scowl that reminded me bleakly of the phrase, "_If looks could kill_."

I stood there, unmoving, for a couple milliseconds, taking in the newcomer. I saw his hand flit inside his cloak.

The moment I saw that tiny little action, my own impulsiveness took over, and I darted around so fast, I barely had time to realize what I was doing. One second I was standing beside them, observing the staring contest between the two, the next I was set in front of Yumi, my back to her protectively, and fending off a knife.

Luckily, I didn't have to go to the trouble of using alchemy to create a blade out of my automail arm; Winry already installed a useful switch so I could snap it in or out at my convenience.

My blade was holding off his sword, the two edges clashing sharply against one another, in front of my face, and I struggled to keep my position. Damn, he's strong. I slide back another centimeter from the huge amount of force he was exerting, and I put even more weight onto my left leg that was pushed back. Hopefully Winry made it not only heavier but tougher too.

"Come on, you can do better than that," he jeered. I lost another inch.

"How are you going to protect Yumi with that kind of idiotic strength?"

My rage peaked past its limit, and my vision was tinted with livid bloodlust. The only time when I had felt this furious was back when I was kicking that first homonculus' ass. Maybe this time I was even angrier.

All I could think about was, _"No, not Yumi. You'll never touch Yumi," _with an immensely passionate feeling that I could scarcely recognize.

What made it worse was that I couldn't do anything about it. This guy, although his shirt and jacket covered them up, had enormous muscles. I couldn't understand how he was putting this much power onto the sword by just holding the very end.

By now, exhaustion was taking over me. I wasn't able to use alchemy with only one hand. And any second I didn't pay attention, he would take it to slice my head open.

Suddenly, I slipped, and his sneer went grinned even wider as he brought his sword down…

"YOU BASTARD!" screamed Yumi unexpectedly, as I saw the man's slits of an eye widen in surprise. He tumbled backwards, violent curses flowing from his tongue, and I slumped back in relief. It only lasted a second though, because I realized that Yumi had tackled him and was now wrestling with him.

Shit, where are you, Mustang?

Yumi's POV

When I saw Ed standing in front of me, defending me with his automail blade, my first thought was annoyance. I didn't need any protecting. But, then, as I swallowed my shallow pride in, I realized that he was truly in danger. I bit my lip, hating myself that I even dared to think that ugly thought.

I watched, still frozen, as thoughts rumbled through my head, trying to figure out what to do, while Ed got pushed back another inch.

I could barely hear the servant taunt Ed, as my mind was too busy panicking. Why couldn't I do anything? I criticized myself, haven't you trained for 3 freakin' years just for this moment?

My head was whipped even more into a frenzy of worry when I saw Ed start to tire out.

Then, I caught his eye. One of the servant's dark, black eyes was directed straight to me.

I saw his wicked smile widen even more, and abruptly all my puzzlement turned into pure fury. It was all too familiar. He wore the same face that he had the exact time he was taking my father away from my grasp.

_Now, I'm going to do the same with this idiot_. Those were the all-too-obvious words that were shown in his face. Impetuousness took over and releasing my entire wrath in one scream, I lunged around Ed and towards him. I tackled him with all of my body strength, causing him to drop his sword, just as Ed slipped and fell. I didn't have time to see whether Ed was okay or not; I was too busy rolling around with the man.

He was strong. I'll give him that. I couldn't let him pin me down for even a second, or I would be done for. Fortunately, my agility was better than his, and I scrambled around him like a speedy mouse. However, I couldn't control myself while I was like this.

My thirst for his heart to stop was too great. Instead of dodging his lunges like a sensible person would, I started to attack him with all of my raw power. Which was teeny-tiny compared to him.

I searched my surroundings, trying to find a way out. That's when I saw Roy's head peeking out of a bush. He was trying to signal something to me. I saw his fingers pressed together, and I got the message.

With a great heave, I propelled myself away from him. I had the pleasure of seeing his baffled and suspicious face before a wall of soil appeared between us. I watched as Ed trapped him in a hole, and Roy snapped his fingers with a sense of finality.

The ground rumbled violently as a giant, fiery explosion burst inside the hole. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of black flash through the trees.

My rage still hadn't completely subsided and my rashness showed through as I took one look at the ashes of in the hole, and sprinted away. The only thing one my mind was lust for revenge.

_I'll kill you. I'll rip you apart and let you pay for everything you did to my dad_.

**A/N: Hmm…I believe I have a hint of writer's block. . **

**Like always, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Please! **


	9. Can't Explain Why

**A/N: …Damn you, writer's block. -_-. But, on the bright side, while I was writing, I thought of something that added a whole twist to the story…and basically completely change the storyline that follows :P **

**Ah well, I guess it's worth it. ^^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING from FMA…I repeat, ANYTHING. **

_The air was feeling crimson, tainted with the smell of blood, the clouds turning an eerie red. It was the air similar to that of a battlefield, but there was no war here. It was just an ordinary day, with an ordinary storm. There were no casualties or killings, no cries of combat or the march of soldiers. And yet, even one if filled with such heavy blood-lust, no matter how much peace and harmony exists within everyone else, the world that one lives in will still feel violent and cruel. It's the matter of getting out of that nightmare, and being able to return back to reality. But, which was which?_

1ST Person POV:

Trees zipped past me as I torn through the forest at a breakneck speed which I didn't even know myself capable of.

Well, as they say, you learn something new everyday.

I always learned that, apparently, I might be half-vampire with the way that I was hungering for that man's blood to be spilled and scattered all over the woods' soil. I doubt it'd be anywhere near as helpful as fertilizer though. Perhaps it'd rank closer to poison, with all the repulsive savageness he's been near. Perhaps, it's contagious, and since he's been close to me before (I shudder at the horrid thought- the next time will hopefully be his lifeless corpse), I caught some of that bloody fever. With the way my heart was pounding now, and my mind racing through thoughts- some overly dramatic, some random, some not kind at all, and some of them would make the preachers want to burn me at stake- it wouldn't be a surprise if I had developed the same kind of viciousness as him.

Although, it would be quite advantageous to my cause, seeing that the reason all my enmity was directed adamantly towards the death of him.

Speaking of, a little devilish thought popped up in the back of my mind- hasn't revenge been the one thing that has marred humankind over and over again? The cause of all those devastating wars, the immense massacres, the spoiled greed, and abuse of power that has always been a major error in the world, wasn't that the thing Sensei had always warned me of? That sooner or later, when you're chasing a person to kill, a person you truly, purely hate to the ends of the world, a dark monster called Revenge could claw its way into your heart and poison your body and mind. You wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat, wouldn't talk, wouldn't do anything that didn't benefit the ultimate goal of stopping his heart. And it was only a matter of time until that monster backfired, and all the thirst for murders halted, leaving with the leftovers of an empty shell that beast had ruined.

I was only slightly aware of that same monster that had planted itself in mine.

Up, down, over, under, out, in, whatever I had to dodge and go through, I passed through it all flawlessly in a way that would've made my Sensei cry. It was like the adrenaline had not only pumped up my body movements to a point where agility and speed was just another limb, but also my mind; I was able to think as clear as day.

That is, where the servant was concerned. Anything else appeared as an annoying buzz in my mind; it was there, I couldn't get rid of it, but, it was a like a small, pestering fly, constantly reminding me that somewhere, within all this hatred, lied the Yumi that I was supposed to be.

However, as aggravating as the continuous hum was, it was still just a tiny part of the intricate and unraveling thoughts that were running around in my mind. It was like a bee hive in there, with a poor, lonely mosquito trying to make sense of the entire ruckus that was zooming around.

But, I sensed I was getting closer, and I tried to shut out all other thoughts.

_Just a few more yards_, I thought. It was odd when my feet instinctively slowed down to a cautious walk. The rustling of the movement ahead of me had stopped, and the forest was eerily silent to my alert ears. A bush moved here and there from the scurrying of small animals, and tree branches bounced up and down as birds took off, flying into the air. Green glowed all around me, alienated by the mass population of the one color. A brown trunk was shown occasionally. I finally emerged from the clearing, a couple feet away from the servant, who was smiling grimly.

"I hate to do this, but I suppose Akiyama-senpai would get angry at me otherwise. He always _did_ have a big issue of telling the truth and being honest and whatnot," he grumbled, sullen.

"How could you even _talk_ about being honest? I'm sure all you've done is lie your entire life!" I spat at him.

He merely stared at me, a mildly amused expression on his face.

"Well, Yumi, dear," he began.

As quick as lightning, my hand shot into my belt, grabbed one of my knives, and flicked it at him without warning. The servant didn't move. My knife flew centimeters beside his head.

"Don't call me that," I hissed. "Or next time I'll aim to the right a little."

His eyebrows rose in interest, but his amused and laidback look stayed put, to my dismay. The way he looked at me was like I was just a small child, ranting on about some new toy she wanted.

"Before we start again on this "hatred for life" thing," he said, putting finger quotes in the air, "I want to put out that my name is Tatsuya."

"Like I care about your name."

He shrugged, "Well, "assistant" just doesn't have nearly the same effect. Not quite catchy either."

His blow-it-off attitude made me want to hurl myself at him. But, something kept me back. I had a feeling in my gut that there was a trick to all this.

He put his hands up in a mock truce.

"Hey, Yumi, seriously now, no need to be pointing a poisoned arrow at anyone," he warned. "I'm not planning to go all evil-masochist on you. I hope not, at the very least. There's only one thing I want, and then I'll be off."

I didn't respond.

"That picture you took earlier? Yeah, apparently it has "great sentimental value" to Akiyama-senpai," he rolled his eyes, imitating my dad. His voice sounded so familiar, so close to the original. It was like he was my personal devil from hell. Maybe he was- it wasn't like I did anything angelic to deserve any gratitude from heaven.

"Why let me chase you? Why didn't you just take it from me back there?' I countered.

"Your _boyfriend _back there," it seemed like he had barely choked out the word, but to my annoyance, still came out stressed, "was planning on killing me." He smiled a sly grin, "We wouldn't have been able to have this pleasant conversation, would we, Yumi?"

"Coward."

He scoffed, pretending to be offended, though his act was obviously transparent. He had meant it to be.

"Please, Yumi, I just want that picture and then we can forget this all happened. That stupid flame alchemist nearly roasted my ass off."

"You mean the Fuhrer," I retorted.

This time real surprise reached his face, but he tried to cover it up. "The Fuhrer? Oh, that was him? My, my, am I really that dangerous that the Fuhrer himself came? Give him my regards; I'm honored."

I narrowed my eyes. His heart wasn't in the jeer as it was the last time we met. It showed a sliver of uncertainty.

Come to think of it, his whole personality had changed dramatically. Last time, he was all for the "evil-masochist" he claimed not to be. Anger started to die down in my heart, when I realized the person I was angry at wasn't here anymore. Instead, there was a strikingly similar, yet not as villainous and sadistic as the old one. Although he made the same taunts, they weren't didn't consist of pure hatred anymore. They were like how a middle school bully would tease a younger child. It was on a whole lower scale. Most of all, he didn't want to fight.

Now that rhyme and reason had settled back into their usual place in my head, I studied his expression more carefully. It wasn't the wicked sneer that was there before; now it was only boredom, impatience, and what looked like a little fear on his part.

Hah, _fear_? He feared _me_? However, now knowing that something was off here, I didn't take as much pride in it as I would have before.

"Who are you?" I asked again, genuine curiosity entering my voice. He seemed pleased that I was taking on a much more calm tone now, and returned the mood.

"I'm Tatsuya Riy, a student of your dad."

"No, that's not what I meant. What have you done with the normal, malevolent bastard that looks exactly like you?"

He chuckled, intrigued by my question. "Funny you should ask that. Multiple personality disorder?"

I snorted, "Yeah right. You shouldn't be lying. What are you, 17 years old? You're practically an adult!"

He stared at me, not with the contempt kind I used to know, but instead, a look of wholesome disbelief.

"I'm not 17!" he protested, almost pouting. "Jeez, if I was that old, I wouldn't be a "student". There he went again, making the air quotes.

"Then what are you?" I raised my eyebrows skeptically.

"15," he sniffed.

I rolled my eyes. "So, let me get this right. You have multiple personality disorder, which explains you being oh-so-very-violent one moment and Mr. Cool N' Calm the next. You're a student of my kidnapped dad, whom I never saw being a good teacher- but of course, I probably don't know him well. I mean, it's not that I'm his _daughter_ or anything," I drawled sarcastically.

"Hey, hey, the MPD was only a guess. I have no idea what the hell is wrong with me either. But, yes, other than that," he motioned for me to continue with my ridiculous observations. If it wasn't for his straight face, I would've sworn he was laughing on the inside. Curse that poker face.

"Then, you look 17, and yet your 15."

He sighed, "It's not my fault I'm tall."

"And muscular," I pointed out. "And all grown-up."

"No, I'm no-"He looked down at his clothes. "Oh, I see."

"Uh-huh."

He heaved a great sigh, like an employee that was asked to do more work.

"Be right back."

And before I could mouth another word, he was gone. I blinked. He had just disappeared from that spot. Sure, I could feel the gust of wind that had rose when he sped off, but I couldn't even leave that abruptly. And that was speaking of my good days. Humph, rude much?

Suddenly, just as swift as he left, Tatsuya was there again.

However, this time, he had changed out of his tux- where, I didn't want to think. Now, he was wearing something more contemporary. Instead of looking like someone who had accidently tripped and fell out of those black-and-white movie films, there was no mistake that these were his normal clothes. It fit him much better, and it made him look…mundane almost, if I could get that major-massacre-causing-man out of my head.

Now, he was wearing faded blue jeans with a green tee behind his black, combat jacket, giving him a subtly dangerous air. His hair was loose, neither spiky mohawk and gelled, nor those long kinds like Ed; it was in between. Just right. His eyes had lost any previous blood-lust and anger, with only shiny orbs in its place. Almost enchanting…

Gah, what am I thinking? Why was I even having a regular conversation with this dude? This man…_teen_ had sanctioned Mask in taking my dad away from me.

"So?" he got my attention again by snapping a few fingers in front of my face. "What do you think? Eh?"

"Um…," I stammered, looking up into his eager face, which was only a few inches away from mine now; he had moved up to give me a closer look.

His face fell when I didn't answer. It surprised me- I had got used to the feeling of an empty, cold heart that never felt anything in him. He, too, could be disappointed.

"It's nice," I added hastily. He wasn't convinced.

"I mean it- you look practically normal now!" I put some more enthusiasm into it. Astonishingly, it came easily.

Then, he smiled. I bit my lip from gasping. Nowhere in his dazzling, white teeth or friendly grin did you suspect even a hint of the snarl that used to take its place. With his orbs shiny brightly, his eyes didn't seem all that gloom-and-doom anymore. It was almost _adorable._ My heart pounded harder now, but it was not because of the fear or adrenaline, yet instead for a nervous, fluttery feeling I hadn't experienced in a while. Looking at his aesthetic smile, I could hardly remember to breathe.

"Thanks. Sorry, your dad makes me dress like that. He says it's more professional," he mocked my dad in a falsetto tone, but it was funnier, rather than mean this time. In fact, I heard a laugh burst through my lips.

He looked genuinely delighted that I had shown a sign of happiness around him. I almost choked in the middle of my giggles when his smile grew wider and his orbs bouncier. It was insanely different. Perhaps an alien abducted him, and left his amazing twin behind?

A small voice chimed in the back of my head- or was it more of a gut feeling you had in your heart?- _don't question it. Let it be. _

I almost did, honestly. I could've easily given it without question and accept this fascinating new twist. But, the overwhelming desire on the other end was also great. I had to ask.

"Wait, so why are you serving Mask, and if you're a student of my dad's, then why aren't you helping him escape?"

Even as I said this, I did it with a relaxed grin; his attitude was just too contagious. It left me talking about things that were dark and murky the same way I'd ask for the daily weather.

It was impossible not to notice a frown starting to tug on the corners of his lips, but still, his eyebrows never reached that angry point, his eyes never became slits, and his smile never completely disappeared.

"Yumi, I'm sorry. I can't tell you that. It's Akiyama-senpai's secret." His tone was so melancholy and apologetic that I did nothing but believe it. With all my heart too.

"So, you can't explain _anything?_ Anything at all?"

"Damn it," I cursed. "It's probably all because of Mask, isn't it?"

As I spoke the words, a trigger in my brain released all the information that I've gathered so far, and I finally made sense of it.

"Wait," I gasped in a low tone. "Mask is forcing you to do this!"

The anger started to rise again, quicker than I expected.

"I can't believe I didn't-"

"Yumi, hold on a minute," he protested, trying to get me to stop my unreasonable fuming. I dashed around the clearing, back and forth, as if pacing, but the speed was way to fast to be any comfort. Worry began to form in my head.

No doubt Mask would be holding my dad hostage, I've realized the person I had deemed to be my nemesis, where my hatred for him could only be contested by Mask himself, had turned out to be a pretty decent guy. Of course, ruling out the MPD excuse that I was still trying to figure out.

Well, there goes the plan of, "get Dad, blow the place up with the deadliest fire/poison available, and try and act innocent as you walk away." I would be hard to grab two people, especially if that person constantly turned into a psychopathic killer ever now and then, for an absurd reason. And, it would _definitely_ not work if he chose to turn into the psychopathic killer at the time of my break-in-and-rescue.

"Yumi, listen to me," he begged. His composed smile now had vanished into a firm, stubborn thin line.

"What?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

He hesitated, and then said, "Just saying, I don't think you'll want to kill Mask as much when you actually meet him. Be careful."

"Why?" I inquired.

He pursed his lips and his shoulders sagged in defeat as he tediously repeated, "I can't explain."

At any other time, I would've rolled my eyes and snickered at his warning, perhaps even hit him in my frustration, but his eyes portrayed everything. It was so easy to read him- to see whether he was angry or disheartened, happy or sad, stubborn or relaxed. Yet, so many questions buried deep in my brain about him. How could such a plain, flat character create so much bewilderment?

I laughed lightly, but bitterly. "Why should I trust you again? How do I know you're just saying that and acting this way in order to get me to lower my guard?"

Instead of being offended, like I thought he would, he seemed exasperated.

"Yumi, do I look like I'm lying?" he pressed. He had such an intense stare that it forced me to look into his eyes.

I found it incredible that, with the shadowy dark color his eyes were, he managed to pull of a concerned and innocent look. With anyone else, with any other personality, it would just look like a deep black-hole, waiting to suck me in.

Instead, I _wanted_ to be sucked in, to melt on the spot.

"N..No," I stuttered. "But, still…,"

He sighed and stepped towards me. I wished he would hear how close I was to a heart-attack, and back away. Because, I certainly wasn't able to do it. I just stood there, transfixed by his mesmerizing eyes.

His hand caressed my cheek. It was warm and gentle. He brushed a lock of my hair back and murmured,

"I _am_ sorry, Yumi. I can't explain any of this."

"No, it's okay," I was compelled to mutter, even though I honestly felt the opposite.

"No, it's not. I can tell your bothered by it."

"There's nothing you can do though," I pointed out, still continuing on my comforting lies.

His brows furrowed as he tried to think of an answer. Actually, even I couldn't think of anything else to say; that was the absolute truth the way I saw it- he couldn't do anything about his weird disease.

"You're right," he confessed. "I can't explain why I sometimes turn into a horrible monster at times. II can't explain why I'm still here, talking to you. I can't explain why I'm still serving Mask, while I'm obviously on your dad's siside. I can't explain _anything_ to you , Yumi."

My hand twitched; it felt like gravity was reversed, pulling it upwards instead of down- up to touch his hand.

"I can't explain it either, why I trust you so much," I whispered. I felt my back brush against a tree trunk. But, it wasn't that I was backing away, rather he was pushing forwards. And, like the moon around earth, I went with him.

His eyes were sad beyond compare. I couldn't take it like that- with those pitiful orbs shining down on me. It made my heart sink.

"I also can't explain why I love you."

"And I can't explain why I'm_ falling_ in love with you."

**A/n: So, how about that surprise? ^^ So, same as always- review, put it on your faves, alerts, etc. **

**To tell you the truth, I was actually going to make this chapter much longer, but it already took a little more than 6 pages, so I decided to cut it in half….6 pages! My first few chapters were only 2-4 pages! O.o **


	10. Puzzle Pieces

**Disclaimer: Nothing's changed people- I still don't own anything from FMA. I only own Yumi, Mask, and Tatsuya (mwahaha, Ed has competition now :P) **  
**A/N: Okay, so there's either AlxWinry, EdxWinry, YumixEd, YumixTatsuya…gosh, so many different possibilities. I'm just curious- people who review, please say which pair you like the best. Maybe it'll change the ending of the story (which I already have a specific pair in mind xD) or maybe not. **  
**So, yeah, please pick a pair!**

_The clouds cleared up by now. There were still a few balls of puff remaining in the sky, but it was freshly pure; everything was calm after the big storm had passed. Too calm. Too perfect..._

Edward's Point of View:  
_Cough, cough_, I struggled to see anything in this smoke.  
"Mustang, you really overdid it," I grumbled, taking in another breath of dust and soot. The air was full of burnt particles, making me wrinkle my nose in annoyance. I brought my jacket up to cover my nose, and to make sure my air wasn't completely contaminated with carbon dioxide. I tried to wave the smoke away with my free hand, but it only caused the grey to swirl even heavier.

I held out my hand, squinted my eyes, and examined it. I could only see up to my elbow, and the rest disappeared into the messy haze. I blinked again. It felt like sand had lodged itself in my eye. Shaking my head, I attempted to clear my vision again. All it did was get a brand new set of dirty specks in my eye. The grey around me whirled around and around like a tornado from my movement. I could make out a faint slash of green in the distance- I guessed it to be the forest- but that was about it. Whether the big ball I had surrounded that servant person in had lasted through the mass explosion, I couldn't tell.

"Shuddap, Fullmetal, as if you could do any better," retorted Mustang, somewhere to the right of me. His voice was also clouded by the grime.

I heard a gunshot fire loudly, a few feet to the left of where Mustang was supposedly standing. I winced as Mustang yelped with alarm.

"Be quiet, both of you!"

"You almost hit me!" complained Mustang.

"Almost," the Lieutenant pointed out matter-of-factly. I heard Mustang mutter a few more curses, but turned silent otherwise.

I turned blindly in the cloudiness, and groped for where Yumi was supposed to be. I felt nothing. Anxiously this time, I reached around again. Still nothing.

"Yumi?" I gasped, releasing a precious breath of air, before accidentally sucking in another chunk of grit. I then repeated to the other two, "Yumi?"

I was on the verge of choking, so I couldn't speak more than a couple words at the most, let alone a whole sentence. I hoped they understood me, and that my plead didn't come out as just a mush of noise.

I heard some scrambling from the Lieutenant and Mustang. I waited impatiently for any sign where Yumi was.

3 long seconds passed, and I wondered what could've happened to her. Surely she could not see in this ridiculous fog.

"No sign of her," informed Mustang.

At this point, I was more confused than worry. There was at least a good hundred feet between where I was and the forest. I would've noticed if she ran off before the explosion. In fact, I did see her dive off to one side to avoid the aftershock of Mustang's fire.

Another thought crossed my mind- a strong, evil, smirking thought.

"Hey, do you know where that other person went?" asked the Lieutenant, as if reading my mind. Although I knew it wasn't anymore use, I used my automail arm to frantically sweep the area in front of me. The pieces twirled furiously once more, and to my delighted surprise, I could peer a little farther along the mist. It was clearing up.

How many minutes had passed? Two, three, five? It would only take a few seconds for the servant to snatch Yumi and run off.

Wait, no, Yumi's tough, I told myself. She can take care of herself for a couple of minutes before we got there, right?

Then, a vision of her, with her eyes filled with lust instead of care and innocence, clouded my eyes. The smoke was disappearing, but I was just as concerned as before.

I remembered Mustang, when he was chasing down Envy. The revenge had completely taken over his sense, and seeing him roast the homunculus over and over again almost made me feel pity for the evil monster. I tried imagining Yumi like that. I tried pretending for a second that Yumi was a vicious little girl who had nothing but hatred in her life. I tried pretending that she had a hungry thirst for blood, her eyes turning crimson.

I couldn't. I absolutely couldn't. To me, Yumi would always be like a younger sister. Someone who got you see change visibly, get older, sometimes wanted to kill, but would always have a special bond. It had been like that ever since we were toddlers. Only then, our feelings were amplified tenfold. Now, confusion and indecision replaced it. Winry had told me that I still loved her.

Those words still unnerved me.

"_Ed, I'll never be yours until you're hanging on to no one else." _

"_Winry, it's you and only you! There's no one else! I haven't been seeing others or cheating on you, I swear! How could you think that?"_

"_Maybe not physically. But, I know you still love her, Ed. It shows in your face whenever I mention her." _

"_Who are you talking about?"_

"_Yumi Akiyama."_

"_Her? I haven't seen her in almost 5 years! That's ridiculous!"_

"_You miss her, don't you?"_

"_Of course I do! But, that doesn't mean I love her!"_

"_Maybe not."_

"_Then, what's the problem?"_

"_Ed, you might not love her, but you certainly haven't gotten over her."_

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I let out the air, sending a puff of white in the midst of the already quickly vaporizing smog. Did I really still love her?

True, the sight of Yumi harmed was poison to my eyes. Her screams of pain were venom to my ears. And if her heart were to ever stop beating, or her eyes gone still, then of course, it would be the death of me, too. But, was that enough to say that I loved her? Would this alone be enough proof that I wouldn't deny her of any, single speck of love that she deserved?

I knew I had avoided thinking about these questions, let alone getting to answer them. Perhaps it was that I didn't want to admit that I loved her, and Winry was right all along. Or even worse, I didn't want to admit that I _didn't_ love her. What would happen then? Would she become heartbroken? Or would she get over it? What if she never had anything to get over in the first place?

As far-fetched as it seemed to imagine that we had no love for each other and were free to pursue any other..."people" we wanted, it pained me to imagine Yumi with another boy. I thought of her in another person's arms, her lips on another's, her hugs given away, her thoughts contaminated with _him_. But, what would I say if she actually _did_ see someone else? I had no right to selfishly claim her all to myself; our relationship was long over.

Those days were so simple. We had no idea what "love" meant. I just marveled at the way her smile dazzled in the sun and her eyes bright. Even though she was younger than me, at that time, I never thought of her as a smaller sibling. Now, without the excuse of being practically her older brother, how was I to explain why I felt so protective over her?

Everything was drifting away from me, I realized with a pang of dread. Al was gone, he was in his own little, love world with Winry. He had completely recovered with his new body, with no need for my help anymore. Winry...I remembered when all I thought about was her. I had thought that there would never anyone else for me. She was perfect, an auto-mail expert with a non-metal heart, who completely understood me. Now, those thoughts were scattered like puzzle pieces all over floor. They had been so close to finishing the puzzle, when a wind came and hurled them across the place- a wind called Yumi.

When Winry had decided to send the letter to her to tell her that Al and I had been successful in our journey, all my memories came rushing back. It was ironic, how I hadn't even a single concern for her and had been wrapped in my Philosopher's stone madness, and now, she was all I could think about. It was like I needed to make up for all those years of forgetting about her.

Shaking my head, I regret not having solved the problem sooner. My head was racking chaos back and forth viciously every passing moment I spent dawdling on this.  
"Fullmetal, where are you going?" yelled Mustang from behind me. I snapped out of my pondering, only to realize the forest was a mere foot or two in front of me.  
I turned around and saw the two soldiers running up to me.  
"Stop daydreaming, Edward!" scolded the Lieutenant. "Don't go wandering off by yourself!"  
Her harsh voice made me wonder what Mustang went through everyday.  
"Uh, hai!" I managed to pull together a steady expression meekly. She wasn't convinced.  
Instead of facing her stern face, I turned back to the immense forest before me. It was hard for to have to look up at the enormous trees. I mean, really? I grew almost a foot, and I _still_ looked up to people...well, things? But, this displeasure was ridiculously unreasonable. It was just an inner habit of mine.  
The trees' leafy greens stretched all the way to the clouds. When you actually stood up front and close to one of these monstrous plants, you could see the small cliffs scattered along the area were no big deal at all. The branches extended far and wide in every direction, like a bad and frizzy hair day for the tree. Inside the woods was a cluttered mess of fallen trees, bushy ferns, and uneven ground as far as the eye could see. Beyond that was just a black alley from the shadows cast by the trees. There was some light that penetrated the less verdant areas, so it wasn't like a rain forest where only a few flashes of brightness could be seen, but it was still less than I would've preferred on a sunny day like today. I could see some signs of bird nests, ant hills, and other animal holes; however, none of the inhabitants came to sight. It was like they were all scared away.  
"Which way do you think she went?" wondered Mustang aloud.  
The Lieutenant glanced around us. There was greenery all around half of the pit, and the other half was the rocky cliffside.  
"I supposed we'll just have to look around. Let's start in the middle, and after walking a few minutes, we could split up," she suggested, after a pause.  
"Running. You mean, after a few minutes of running," corrected Mustang.  
A surprised look reached her face and she amended her mistake.  
As we started to set out into the forest, I muttered under my breath, "You mean sprinting."  
I set off at the fastest speed the heavy auto-mail leg would let me go. Luckily, at the beginning of the woods, the roots weren't as messy, and I could almost make out somewhat of a path. I felt the others fall a couple feet behind me.  
"Wait, slow down! You'll trip over something" called the Lieutenant.  
Hah, yeah right.  
"Fullmetal, save your energy for later!" added Mustang.  
Like I would listen to you.  
"You might miss Yumi if you run at this speed!"  
I halted in my tracks, startled by their comment. I felt my body tense as I searched around for any sign that someone had passed by earlier. The two caught up to me with annoyed expressions.  
Having not found any, I grumbled to them, "What are you talking about? We didn't pass her."  
"You might have," warned the Lieutenant.  
"But I didn't."  
She sighed.  
Mustang then admitted shamefully, "This forest is actually a lot trickier to maneuver than we thought. We kind of got stuck on that clump of branches and bushes back there."  
I would've laughed at him if the mood was any different, but I couldn't find the reason to joke around in such a serious situation.  
"Come on," I said gravely. After a brief silence, I added, "I'll slow down.  
They sighed in relief.  
When we got to a comfortable "running" speed, I saw what they meant by getting stuck around some tree roots. Before, I had charged unhesitatingly into the woods, adrenaline in my veins. Now, when I had calmed down, I truly saw how hazardous the area really was.  
I ducked underneath a perilously large tree branch, and it held it up for the Lieutenant and Mustang. At least I was _that_ tall.  
Tree branches and bushes were scattered all over. I saw poison ivy swirl around many of the trunks and odd-shaped fungi at the roots. Some of the plants were wholly covered in moss, while others' green leaves shined brightly. Again, I sidestepped a brushy shrub that lied in the middle of the path. I felt the ground elevate and descend numerous times. The rocky footing was only suitable for a goat. Any little slip on a pebble here could send you flying head first straight into one of those solid-looking trees.  
A while later, there was no more path to follow, if there was ever one to begin with. Now, it was all branches, trees, and plants tangent to each other. There was no room for jumping, running, and barely enough for walking.  
I murmured impatiently as we slowly made our way across the vast forest, small step by step, "We're never going to find them at this rate."  
"Well," answered Mustang, optimistically, "Yumi couldn't have got far in this mess either."  
I shook my left arm, trying to let it not get rusty. During this motion, I accidently hit a sapling with broad, spiky leaves. The small tree shook violently from my touch, its branches waving back and forth, as if saying "hi."  
"Oops," I mouthed.  
"You have to watch what you touch, Edward. We have to be stealthy so the servant doesn't hear us," frowned the Lieutenant.  
I heard an "oomph" from Mustang. I whipped out my blade and Lieutenant Hawkeye snatched her pistols out, ready for action.  
"It's okay, guys, I'm fine," muttered Mustang. I turned to him and found that he was getting up from the woods' floor, dusting his pants off. "Damn, Fullmetal, that little tree you disturbed is strong."  
"Or you're just weak," I retorted, ignoring the disapproving look from Hawkeye. "I can't believe you got hit by a sapling and _fell_."  
He rolled his eyes. "Right, _or_ I was paying my attention to that big tree that's fallen in the middle of the path you guys chose," he drawled sarcastically.  
"Hey, it's not my fault you're in the back," I shrugged. "Besides, how did that sapling hit you when you were over there?"  
He went back and sat on the broken tree trunk that was strewn about 10 feet across the ground. "I had a face-plant right here in the ground. That's a reasonable distance from that tree," he pointed. "You hit it hard, Fullmetal. It was shaking like crazy."

I stretched my left arm. "Ugh, it's getting heavier. I have to tell Winry about this."

"Look! I found something!" called Lieutenant Hawkeye.

I reluctantly stopped fussing around the auto-mail and headed towards where she was pointing. Her finger furiously stabbed the air next to where Mustang had fallen.

Mustang moved clear of her jabbing and stepped around her carefully.

"It looks like there's something wedged underneath the tree," he observed.

"It's probably just a piece of trash. People litter here all the time," I assured, looking around us. Scattered within the crunchy leaves on the ground were mixed with the usual remains of plastic bags, food wrappers, etc.

"No," disagreed the Lieutenant. "It looks more like a photograph."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, maybe it's just a picture someone left behind. No big deal."

Instead of listening to me, they knelt down and started to inspect the stuck photo. I sighed loudly, trying to make it obvious I was beyond impatient. Why couldn't we just move on already? The more time we wasted just standing around, the more time Yumi had to get farther and farther away. Please, it's not like that picture has anything to do with Yumi. I mean, the chances of that were 1 in a mil-

"Hey, look, it's your girlfriend!" called Mustang, waving the picture in the air.

My pride held me there, while the rest of me wanted to go and snatch the picture from his greedy hands.

"How can you tell?" I asked, hoping my unconvinced attitude would reach across.

"She's a bit younger, probably around 8 or so," reported Mustang, his eyes studying the picture intently. A little _too_ intently.

"A bit?" I scowled.

"Here you look."

I tried to slow my steps down, but decided against my charade and jogged the space between us. My eyes widened when I saw the picture.

It was of Yumi. It was a picture of her in a dress wearing a big, sunny smile. The untainted innocence that spread across this photo was unfathomable. She finally seemed truly like the little girl I envisioned her in my head to be. This picture was before her father had left, I assumed. This was back when we were still together.

I couldn't take my eyes off the picture. I just stood there, transfixed by the rare expression of pure happiness she wore. Nowadays, you'd have to go the extra mile just to get half of this.

"Yumi was here," I whispered, still staring.

Mustang sensed my astonishment and patted me gently on the shoulder, all kidding aside. "Come on, Fullmetal. We should get going."

They started down the path, once again climbing through the treacherous roots and branches. I was laggard to follow them, my eyes tearing unwillingly off the photo.

I tucked the photo safely in my jacket pocket and ran after them.

Yumi's POV:  
My heart beat violently. Every single cell in my body screamed with warning. This was wrong. This was the wrongest thing ever. It was beyond anything I could comprehend. My mind thought of a million reasons why I should put a stop to this right this instance, and I neglected to listen to any of them. My arms seemed to want to push him away, but it had no strength to. Strangely, I didn't mind, or rather, I couldn't even control it even if I did. My body was moving on its own, following its own rhythm.  
And my lips touched his yet again.

**A/N: So, again, like the last chapter, this one was a lot longer than I expected it to be. No super big cliffies this time, because I was actually planning to add a whole other part into this. I guess it'll just be the next chapter then. :P **  
**And, I know you haven't seen Tatsuya very much at all. He's pretty much just mixed up in this story, here and there. I suppose if enough of you like him, which I doubt because I think he has a lot of haters (Edward ftw, right?), I'll add more of him in...at the end. ^^**  
**So, which character will end up with Yumi? Tatsuya, Ed, AL? Or no one? Again, please vote which pair you like the best. It might even have some influence on the plot...MIGHT...don't you just love me? :] **  
**Review and vote!**


	11. With Him

**A/N: So, if any of you are interested, I posted up a picture of Tatsuya on my profile- check it out sometime- and I also updated it with some of my random favorites. :P Feeling bored. **  
**Disclaimer: Don't own anything, never will, from FMA Brotherhood...or FMA. **  
**Enjoy, be sure to R&R, and vote for your favorite couple. (Wow, lots to do, eh?) **

_The sky was like a large, blue wallpaper, painted over the Earth; the sun a big circle of heat and light, hovering on the horizon, but not over; the clouds floating in the sky, scattered here and there. It felt like you could just reach up and grab one of them. They looked so close, so still, yet you could never really extend your hand and end up with a puff of white between your fingers. If you really looked closely, the clouds were actually moving, inch by inch, across the cerulean picture. And the sun wasn't just that round yellow ball you'd draw in the corner of your paper when you were little, always staying there in that exact area; no, it was rather a shining beacon of brilliance, rising up into its usual place in the sky. Once you noticed, once you realized the sun was coming up and another day was coming, the sky suddenly seemed alive again. Everything was moving again. Reality had set in. _

Narrator's POV (basically 3rd person) :  
The two were sitting cross-legged under the shade of a tree. One had an elbow propped up against the side of her knee, her chin resting on a palm, and she was leaning forward intently with an smile on her face. The other, a boy, was chatting animatedly with her, his eyes bright with excitement, and his hands gesturing in different movements, as if telling a story.  
The sun was high up in the sky; it was almost noon. Its rays were casting a large shadow on the trees, and the blackness loomed over parts of the clearing. It made the forest seem full of life, with a beam of light here and a dark hole there. You never knew what was jumping around in there...or rather, lurking around, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Yumi's POV:  
I don't know how long we sat there, I captivated by his tales, true or not I didn't know, and he next to me, seemingly delighted of finally having someone to talk to.  
I couldn't help but notice the softness his hair had, and the genuine pleasure that was shone in his orbs. His smile was relentless, and I had the feeling that I was really, really appreciated. It was impossible not to notice it. The way his words flowed out of his mouth, the way his emotions were so transparent, made it hard for me to second guess him.  
"And, so, we actually found a homunculus that was a doppelganger of King Bradley once! To think, only a week later, the Fuhrer was declared dead!" he was saying.  
"Really?" I murmured. In the back of my head, I remembered Ed's warning to not tell anyone about the truth about King and Selim Bradley.  
He stopped for a while and peered at me. "Yeah, why?"  
I stifled a giggle, amused by his anxious reaction. "No, it's nothing. It's just that Ed also met-"  
His eyes suddenly became unfocused, the dancing white orbs dimmed. He stared at me, but I had the feeling he wasn't really seeing anything.  
"Um...are you okay?" I asked hesitantly, waving a hand near his face, for the first time in hours, worried. "Hello?"  
He took a deep breath, and I sat up and tilted my head in confusion.  
Then, a slight grin returned, he reverted back to his usual mood.  
"Ehhh...," he dragged the word out, almost groaning.  
"What?"  
"Sorry, the mention of him makes me feel weird," he vigorously shook his head back and forth, trying to clear his mind.  
"Why? Because he really met the Fuhrer before?" I teased.  
He merely rolled his eyes and waved away my taunt. "Psh, yeah right. I mean, it's not like he _fought _him, like me," he mocked with a hint of sarcasm.  
I scoffed, "You never crossed swords with him!"  
He chuckled, "Fine, fine, you got me there." After a thought, he added seriously, "But, I swear, everything else is true."  
His abruptly somber expression had me cracking up.  
Suddenly, the trees beside me exploded. No kidding.

Ed's POV:  
We stumbled around the woodlands a little more, before I heard the talking; there was a voice that didn't belong to neither Mustang nor the Lieutenant to the west of me.  
It was a male, I recognized, and he was continuously talking, with only a few pauses. This has to be it. Why he was talking so much, I couldn't figure out. It was too suspicious; why would he talk so loud, when he knew that we would certainly be looking for them? And, besides, this was only a few miles into the forest. He could've got at least a few kilometers head start, I assumed, with the speed he was fighting at earlier.  
During the pauses, I guessed someone was answering, but I couldn't even make out the vaguest sound. Then again, that was probably Yumi, and she didn't talk nearly as loud.  
I put a finger to my lips and motioned for the Mustang and Hawkeye to follow me carefully. I saw an bright opening about 20-30 feet ahead, and as we neared the break in trees, the voices grew louder. One of them I realized to be Yumi. Then, when I was only a mere few feet away- I was running now, with the two adults at my heels- a groan rang in the air.  
It was like lead appeared in my heart, heavy with anxiety. I motioned wildly to Mustang. Luckily he understood, snapping his fingers just as I leaped into the clearing. Anything to buy some time.

Yumi's POV:  
Smoke rose up into the air, like a waggly trail of grey. We both whipped our heads towards the cause of the explosion. I smelled ashes burning; the bitter remains of whatever trees had been in that area was carried into the clearing by the wind. I coughed a few times, thinking of some previous forest fires I had witnessed.  
Jeez, Mustang, if you're going to blow something up, make sure it won't spread. -.-  
Then, the presence that was once beside me was there no more. A fierce gust of wind swept by me, as someone ran out into the clearing.  
"Ed?" I coughed.  
I heard blades grinding and clashing and turned around.  
Ed had just appeared out of nowhere and was now fending off Tatsuya. Panic and worry filled me. For them _both_. They zipped back and forth, almost too fast for me to comprehend. All I knew was that Ed was trying to keep the fight away from me. Trying to find a place to jump in and stop all of this, I noticed Tatsuya's face.  
His originally black eyes were now tinted with a small hint of red; I was too far to make sure, though. But they were intent on Ed. On killing him. No...this wasn't the person I had been with the past few hours. Even though his attitude still hadn't reverted completely into the evil man he'd been before- thank the gods, his sword-fighting would've been much better than Ed's if he had- yet I couldn't help but feel a certain anger to his movements.  
"Stop!" I fretted, unable to do anything other than yell, afraid that I would hurt any one of them if I intervened.  
A kick and a punch, a scratch and a bruise, they all made me wince; whether it was to Ed or Tatsuya it didn't matter.  
Why were you fighting...Tatsuya? Why? Why are you starting to change back into that monster? Why are you trying to hurt Ed? I thought you cared for me...  
_"Multiple personality disorder?"_  
His words echoed in my head, answering my question. But that was impossible wasn't it? How could it be that one, so, so, convenient excuse, that explained everything.  
_Hah, nothing is impossible, baka Yumi. _  
Ed used to always tell me that. He told me that when I objected to him leaving home to become a state alchemist. He told me that when I asked him about the fictional- or so I thought- Philosopher's Stone. He even told me that when I went to him for advice because I thought my parents would never come home.  
Before this day, would I have deemed it impossible that Mask's assistant was someone so sweet and innocent?  
"Stop..." I whispered, a salty drop of water running down my cheek this time. Idiot, I scolded myself, why was I such an easy crier? I let it run down, feeling it touch my lips, too scared to raise a hand and wipe it away if anyone should see.  
Ironically, this got more attention than my previous try. Ed's eyes met mine as he got distracted for a moment in his wrangle. They were two, perfect, amber orbs of alarm. I saw Tatsuya follow where Ed was looking, and hesitated for once in his thrust.  
Looking into those black-red eyes, I saw him flickering back between the lines of the sadist and the person that I talked with only a few minutes ago. For a moment there, I could've sworn he actually stood still in open shock.  
Ed was the one quicker to recover, after giving a quick reassessment of my safety. He took the chance left by Tatsuya to drive his blade forwards.  
"No!" I screeched, surprising myself with the shrill sound I had made. I heard the sound of my knife tearing through the air before I understood what I had done.  
_Clang_, my blade thudded against Ed's with a resolute sound. It pounded into his with such force it drove his left arm to the side. Although my aim had been spot-on, I hated the sound and winced at impact.  
"Gomenasai," I whimpered, my knees giving out.

ED'S POV  
I visualized my blade sinking into his chest, twisting it for every time he hurt Yumi. How dare he? How dare he get so close to her...like, like, a _lover_? Disgust rolled around in me like a hurricane. So foolish of him to get distracted by Yumi. It wasn't like he cared about her or anything.  
When I had watched him get sidetracked by her, fury just took over my worry.  
He. Had. No. Right.  
Suddenly, I felt a heavy weight slamming into my arm. The momentum sent it flailing, and I swiped the air inches next to my target.  
I stared dumbly and my limp arm, and the knife that lied to the side of my feet. The handle was a deep navy blue, the dagger glinting silver.  
"Yumi!" I heard Mustang finally make it into the clearing. Seconds late.  
My eyes bore uncomprehendingly boring into hers. But she was not to me. Her two sapphire eyes were watching to the right of me, studying _him_ cautiously. As if she was afraid of what he'd say.  
My head whipped back and forth, between the two. The other person's face was just a picture of plain bewilderment, and Yumi's an apologetic gaze.  
Why? I wanted to go over there and shake her out of this ridiculous trance. I wanted to bring her home, away from all of this craziness, these lies.  
And then he fled. I saw a agonized look of strained indecision- it scared me how sadistically it pleased me- before he turned his back and darted silently into the forest.

Yumi's POV:  
I watched Tatsuya as he swiftly dashed away. Moments after his green shirt vanished from view, I could barely think about anything else. I didn't pay attention to Mustang's worried questions. I could care less about the Lieutenant's concerned voice. I even blocked out Ed. Because I wanted _him_. I wanted it all to go back to the two of us, sitting underneath that shady tree. Back to a few minutes ago, when I wasn't worrying about anything else; not about Mask, not about my feelings for Ed, not about impressing Hawkeye, not about my dad. Just me and the person I had created to be my prince.

Ed's POV:  
"Yumi?" I shook her again. She only stared past me, at the trails of where that person had run off to, as if hypnotized. Desperately, I called her name once more, as loud as the lamented whisper would go. Nothing.  
Finally, dumbfounded by her aloof reactions, I crumbled back onto the ground beside her. We were all safe. Yumi was alive. We had encountered someone close to Mask, face-to-face. We had found a place that could be holding dozens of necessary clues to this case. It was by all means a victory.  
But, we had lost. We had lost Yumi to her own little, faraway world. With _him_.

**A/N: Again, I shall be so kind as of to remind you to vote. (the couples are: YumixEd, YumixTatsuya, EdxYumi, or AlxWinry) Please. Pretty please. With hot fudge on top (nah, no cherries, I don't really like them. :l ) Mmmm...yes, hot fudge. You know you want the hot fudge. :) **  
**And, maybe because I want to stress this voting thing, or maybe I'm just in a sadistic mood, I'll post up the next chapter once I get 5 votes (via comment/review I suppose). **


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